In a grueling duel overnight into Sept. 26, Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk prevailed over his British competitor Anthony Joshua and won the title of new world super heavyweight champion.
The victorious 34-year-old Ukrainian has now got championship belts from four major boxing organizations, namely the Word Boxing Associaton (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Organization (WBO), and International Boxing Organization (IBO).
The 12-round match nicknamed “The Perfect Storm” by promoters was held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Neither athlete was successful at gaining absolute dominance. In the final rounds, the Ukrainian fighter started to finally overpower Joshua and managed to carry out a crushing attack in the match’s last second.
All three referees indicated Usyk’s victory.
“This means a lot to me,” as the new world champion asserted.
“The match went off exactly the way I expected. There were several moments when Joshua squeezed me, but those were not significant things.”
Usyk added that he had demonstrated “not even the best version” of his fighting shape.
The Ukrainian boxer said he wanted to praise God for his victory and added that the match had taken place on the 12th anniversary of the day he had proposed to his wife.
“Now I want to go home,” he said. “I’ve been preparing for this fight since January and have spent little time with my family, with my kids. I want to see them play, yell, make their clothes dirty. I am not thinking about a return match.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Usyk shortly following the official announcement overnight into Sept. 26, saying that “Ukraine gets back what belongs to it. Champion titles from WBA, IBF, IBO, as well as WBO — again belong to a Ukrainian, the way they should,” Zelensky stated on his Facebook page. “We were all up in the night, all having no doubts, all not keeping emotions under control. That was a hard and therefore even more precious victory.”
In Ukraine, however, Usyk is a controversial figure, mainly due to what many perceive as his pro-Russian views. On numerous occasions, the athlete refused to plainly condemn Russia’s direct involvement in the war in the eastern Donbas, or the Kremlin’s illegal occupation of his home region, Crimea, following its 2014 military invasion.
Here are video highlights:
Video highlights of Oleksandr Usyk’s defeat of Anthony Joshua on Sept. 25, 2021, in London.
Also, as a devoted Christian, Usyk is very close to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as many pro-Russian political figures, such as blogger Anatoliy Shariy.
Many Ukrainians are not fans of Usyk because of these views. On the other hand, Usyk continues fighting under Ukrainian colors and is one of the country’s most famous figures.
In 2016, the Kyiv Post selected Usyk as one of the winners of its Top 30 Under 30 Awards, the annual list of most successful young Ukrainians.
