Today Oleksandr Usyk is 35. Yes, yes, the Ukrainian was born on the same day as the world boxing legend, the undisputed heavyweight king of all time Mohammed Ali. Some would say that 35 is the beginning of the end of a career for athletes. This is quite an appropriate statement for lightweight boxers, where endurance, speed and pace play a key role.
But for heavyweights, everything is a little different, and these skills are not lost so quickly. Needless to say, by the age of 35, Usyk continues to form the status of a world-class star around him. Last year, he won a major victory, confidently defeating world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua , due to which he took away all the belts from him. Moreover, the Ukrainian, in theory, claims to meet WBC world champion Tyson Fury and become the absolute best in heavyweight. So the main victory of Alexander is yet to come. But, even despite this, Usyk already has a gigantic path behind him. Birthday is the best occasion to remember the most important milestones in the career of a Ukrainian. Over the years in amateur and professional, he defeated a total of 12 world champions (former, current or future), and has not lost to Usyk for almost 11 years. Let’s talk about these facts today.
First big victories
In 2006, when Alexander was 19 years old, he was still performing on average weight (up to 75 kg). Then he only fought for himself a place at the heart of the Ukrainian national team. In July 2006, Usyk went to the European Championship as part of the national team. In Plovdiv (Bulgaria), already in the first fight, Alexander defeated the future world champion in two weight categories in the pro Badu Jack ahead of schedule. As a result, here he reached the semi-finals, where he himself lost ahead of schedule. An insurmountable obstacle for Alexander was an experienced Russian Matvey Korobov. Be that as it may, bronze at the championship of the continent at the age of 19 was a great success.
In 2008, Usyk became the winner of the prestigious tournament – the Strandzha Cup. In the final, he defeated the future world middleweight champion Dmitry Chudinov.
Despite these successes, at that time Alexander’s career was not flawless. Sometimes victories were followed by failures. At the same time, he was losing to Artur Beterbiev, Yegor Mekhontsev and Clement Russo. But the misfires only tempered the character of the Ukrainian and helped him to progress.
He suffered his last defeat in 2011, and then it turned out to be a real detective story. At the prestigious international master tournament named after Manger in Kherson, Usyk, according to all documents, lost ahead of schedule to the Belarusian Sergei Korneev, whom he had already defeated in the past. But Sergey himself subsequently made a sensational statement, noting that he defeated the namesake of our hero. Representatives of the British team, who were also present at the tournament, noted that they were preparing their boxer for Alexander Usik, but they never saw him at the tournament. In general, the story is really dark. But be that as it may, de jure it is this defeat that is still the last in Alexander’s career.
Gold of the World Championship and the Olympics
In general, 2011 was the beginning of Usyk’s breakthrough. Oleksandr has already trained on a regular basis at the headquarters of Anatoly Lomachenko, and this has paid off. Usyk began to defeat all the top fighters in the division. At the World Championships in Baku, Alexander confidently passed the tournament bracket, including taking revenge on Artur Beterbiev. At the same tournament, Usyk defeated Tervel Pulev, and in the final, the Ukrainian dealt with local favorite Teymur Mammadov. Later, Usik admitted that in Azerbaijan he was offered to lose in the final for a fee, but he categorically refused.
In the status of world champion, Usik went to the London Olympics in 2012. Here he went through the rink with his rivals, especially the same Tervel Pulev got it (21:5). Before the Bulgarian, Alexander again defeated the world amateur champion (2009) and the future world pro champion Artur Beterbiev, and in the final he defeated two-time world amateur champion (2007, 2013) Clement Russo. Usyk returned from London as a real star. But he was in no hurry to sign a professional contract, despite the abundance of proposals. Instead, he devoted 2013 to performances in the WSB semi-professional league, where he fought for the Ukrainian Atamans team. Under its banner, he won six victories in six bouts, including defeating the amateur world champion Magomedrasul Mejidov, as well as the now famous professional Joseph Joyce, who is now pushing Usyk into rivals.
Transition to the pro. Here Alexander has already beaten six world champions
Alexander became a professional late. He made his debut here in the fall of 2013, a couple of months before his 27th birthday. With this in mind, the promoters forced the development of his career, and Usyk himself immediately made it clear that he did not intend to sit on a baggy diet. The Ukrainian was brought in by experienced opponents, behind whom there were 20-30 victories. But none of them could do anything with Usyk’s filigree technique. By 2016, Alexander recorded 9 wins in 9 meetings. Thanks to this, as well as competent promotion, Usyk received a title fight with WBO cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Glowacki. For the sake of the title, Alexander agreed to perform on the opponent’s territory. But neither the experience of Krzysztof, nor the crowded arena in Gdansk in any way frightened Alexander. He confidently won and became the world champion already in the 10th bout.
Then there were several title defenses, and not always easy ones. Nevertheless, cruiserweight at that time, however, as now, was not very popular, so it was not easy for Usyk to advertise himself. Fortunately, the Sauerland brothers came to the rescue, throwing in the idea of holding a G-8 tournament with the participation of the best fighters in the division. The World Boxing Super Series made it possible to become the absolute world champion and win the Muhammad Ali trophy. Usyk’s participation as a world champion was not in doubt. Immediately managed to gather other title holders, as well as ex-world champions. In the quarterfinals, Alexander was opposed by the former king of the division, Marco Hook. The straightforward and primitive German with Balkan roots could not do anything with his opponent and lost ahead of schedule in the 10th round. In the semi-finals, Alexander met with the WBC world champion in the first heavyweight Mairis Briedis. That fight, perhaps, became the most difficult in the career of the Ukrainian. Only on moral and strong-willed he pulled out a victory from the Latvian and became the champion in two versions. Nevertheless, after a real war in the ring, Usyk changed his coach.
The famous Anatoly Lomachenko was already preparing him for the final of the super series. There were a lot of problems around the decisive match. The fact is that Usyk had WBA and IBF world champion Murat Gassiev in his rivals. A duel with a Russian could not do without politics. And when it became clear that Alexander needed to go to Moscow, the pressure grew even stronger. But Usyk coped with all this with a bang. Murat, in fact, was defeated, and Usyk became the absolute world champion in the first heavyweight and the first ever owner of the Muhammad Ali trophy. After that, the star status of the Ukrainian had to be recognized by everyone.
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
After that triumph Alexander pr ovil in the first heavy weight only one fight. In November 2018, in the UK, he met with the former world champion, knockout
Tony Bellew . The Englishman started well and at first even took 2-3 rounds. But soon, having read the opponent, Alexander began to disassemble the Bomber and won an early victory.
Following this success, which once again convinced the public that a real star had lit up in the boxing world, Alexander moved to heavyweight. Here, things didn’t go very smoothly. Changes of opponents, injuries and the pandemic took their toll. Usyk performed rarely and not always confidently. But in 2021, he had a chance. Negotiations for the fight between Joshua and Fury had to be curtailed. As a result, Alexander, instead of the planned fight with Joe Joyce, went to the duel with Joshua and showed who is who, while shaming the army of skeptics. Thus, Alexander defeated another world champion. In total, over the years of his career, he defeated 12 former, future or current world champions. Our review lacks the current world heavyweight champion Arsen Gulamiryan, whom Usyk defeated as an amateur. But the main victory is yet to come. Tyson Fury could become the 13th world champion to be defeated by Usyk. The victory over him will bring the Ukrainian and the title of absolute world champion in heavyweight, which has not been in the division since the time of Lennox Lewis. So the main victory is yet to come. However, let’s not rush. In the meantime, the editors of the “Championship” congratulate Alexander Usik on his 35th birthday and wish him victories, as well as sports longevity. Good luck!
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