Oleksandr Usyk

Oleksandr Usyk
Олександр Усик

Usyk in 2015
Statistics
Real name Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk
Nickname(s) The Cat
Rated at Cruiserweight
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Reach 198 cm (78 in)
Nationality Ukrainian
Born (1987-01-17) January 17, 1987
Simferopol, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Crimea)
Stance Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights 10
Wins 10
Wins by KO 9
Losses 0
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Ukraine
Olympic Games
2012 London Heavyweight
World Championships
2011 Baku Heavyweight
2009 Milan Heavyweight
European Championships
2008 Liverpool Light-heavyweight
2006 Plovdiv Middleweight

Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk (Ukrainian: Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович У́сик) is a Ukrainian professional boxer who has held the WBO junior-heavyweight title since September 2016. As an amateur he won a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 2012 Olympics, as well as bronze and gold at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships, respectively.

Early life

Usyk was born in Simferopol, Crimean Oblast. Until age 15, he used to play association football and was trained at the SC Tavriya Simferopol specialized sports school of Olympic reserve (club's football academy). In 2002 Usyk switched to boxing. He is a graduate of Lviv State University of Physical Culture.

Amateur career

At the 2006 European Championships he won his first three matches against little-known opponents, in the semi-final he was outclassed by Russian star Matvey Korobov.

He then moved up to light-heavyweight later and won the Strandja Cup in 2008.

In February 2008, he moved up another weightclass and was sent to the Olympic qualifier in Roseto degli Abruzzi replacing European Champion Denys Poyatsyka. There he defeated world class Azeri Elchin Alizade and Daniel Price.[1]

At Beijing he easily beat world class local Yushan Nijiati (23:4) but ran into world champion Clemente Russo and lost (4:7).

He dropped down to light-heavy and captured the European Championships 2008 but later went up again.

At the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships he beat Artur Beterbiev and Teymur Mammadov to win the Heavyweight title and qualify for the Olympics.

At the 2012 Olympic Games (results) in London, Usyk won the gold medal, beating Artur Beterbiev, Tervel Pulev and Italy's Clemente Russo, outscoring him by 6-3 in Round 3.[2]

Professional career

Early career

Usyk turned pro in late 2013 at the age of 26 and signed a promotional deal with the Klitschko brothers' K2 Promotions, fighting in the Cruiserweight division.[3]

On November 9, 2013, Usyk made his professional debut by defeating Mexican fighter Felipe Romero via a fifth-round knockout. The following month he stopped 38 year old Epifanio Mendoza in four rounds. In his 3rd professional fight on April 2014, Usyk made his debut in Germany on the undercard of Klitschko-Leapai at the Koenig Pilsener Arena defeating Ben Nsafoah via 3rd round knockout.[4] A month later, Usyk returned home and knocked out Cesar David Crenz in round 4, having knocked him down in round 3 as well.

Rise up the ranks

Usyk won his first title on October 4, 2014 after beating South African boxer Daniel Bruwer via round 7 technical knockout for the Interim WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title.[5] Usyk defended the title to months later stopping 35 year old Danie Venter in round 9.[6] Usyk was ahead on all three judges scorecards at the time of stoppage.

Usyk made another defence in April 2015 against former Russian cruiserweight champion Andrey Knyazev (11-1, 6 KOs) in Kiev. After seven one-sided rounds, referee Mickey Vann finally stopped the fight in round 8 after deciding Knyazev had taken enough beating. This win kept Usyk on course to a WBO title fight against then champion Marco Huck.

In August 2015, Usyk defeated former South African light heavyweight champion Johnny Muller via 3rd round technical knockout at the Sport Palace in Kiev, which saw Usyk control the fight with a jab. Usyk knocked down Muller twice in round 3 and although Muller protested, referee waved the fight off with one second of the round left.[7]

Usyk made a fourth and final defence against unknown Cuban boxer Pedro Rodriguez in a scheduled 12 round fight on December 12 at the Sport Palace. Usyk won the fight scoring his 9th straight knockout in as many fights, first dropping Rodriguez in round 6 with a uppercut before the fight was stopped in round 7, being knocked down again, although he beat the count. This win put Usyk at WBO's number 1 position, with a World title fight on the cards for 2016.[8]

WBO junior-heavyweight champion

Usyk vs. Głowacki

In June 2016, it was announced that Usyk would challenge undefeated Polish boxer Krzysztof Głowacki (26-0, 16 KOs) for his WBO Cruiserweight champion on September 17 at the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland.[9][10][11] The fight was shown live on Sky Sports in the UK.[12] On the night, Usyk outpointed Głowacki after an exciting 12 round fight with the judges scoring it 119-109 117-111 117-111 all in Usyk's favour. The decision win also ended Usyk's run of having won his opening 9 fights via stoppage. Usyk dominated the fight with a jab, eventually injuring Głowacki's eye early in the fight, also using his dominant hand speed and footwork which helped him score the decision win.[13]

Usyk vs. Mchunu

Usyk announced he would be making his American debut on the Hopkins-Smith Jr. card on December 17, 2016. The fight would take place at the Forum in Inglewood, California.[14] On November 11, K2 Promotions announced Usyk would be defending his WBO title against 28 year old South African boxer Thabiso Mchunu (17-2, 11 KOs). Mchunu previously lost to Ilunga Makabu via 11th round stoppage, although being ahead on the scorecards at the time.[15][16]

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary
10 fights 10 wins 0 losses
By knockout 9 0
By decision 1 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
11 N/A N/A South Africa Thabiso Mchunu N/A – (12) 17 Dec 2016 United States The Forum, Inglewood, California, US Defending WBO junior-heavyweight title
10 Win 10–0 Poland Krzysztof Głowacki UD 12 17 Sep 2016 Poland Ergo Arena, Gdańsk, Poland Won WBO junior-heavyweight title
9 Win 9–0 Cuba Pedro Rodriguez TKO 7 (12), 1:57 12 Dec 2015 Ukraine Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine Retained WBO Inter-Continental junior-heavyweight title
8 Win 8–0 South Africa Johnny Muller TKO 3 (12), 2:59 29 Aug 2015 Ukraine Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine Retained WBO Inter-Continental junior-heavyweight title
7 Win 7–0 Russia Andrey Knyazev TKO 8 (10), 2:24 18 Apr 2015 Ukraine Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine Retained WBO Inter-Continental junior-heavyweight title
6 Win 6–0 South Africa Danie Venter TKO 9 (10), 2:29 13 Dec 2014 Ukraine Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine Retained WBO Inter-Continental junior-heavyweight title
5 Win 5–0 South Africa Daniel Bruwer TKO 7 (12), 2:55 4 Oct 2014 Ukraine Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine Won WBO Inter-Continental interim junior-heavyweight title
4 Win 4–0 Argentina Cesar David Crenz KO 4 (8), 2:19 31 May 2014 Ukraine Sport Palace, Odessa, Ukraine
3 Win 3–0 Germany Ben Nsafoah KO 3 (8), 1:43 26 Apr 2014 Germany König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany
2 Win 2–0 Colombia Epifanio Mendoza TKO 4 (6), 2:10 7 Dec 2013 Ukraine Ice Arena TEC Terminal, Brovary, Ukraine
1 Win 1–0 Mexico Felipe Romero TKO 5 (6), 1:36 11 Sep 2013 Ukraine Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine Professional debut

Titles in boxing

Regional titles
New title WBO Inter-Continental junior-heavyweight champion
Interim title
4 October 2014 – December 2014
Promoted 		Vacant
Vacant
Title last held by
Krzysztof Głowacki		 WBO Inter-Continental junior-heavyweight champion
December 2014 – 17 September 2016
Won world title 		Vacant
Title next held by
Imre Szellő
World titles
Preceded by
Krzysztof Głowacki		 WBO junior-heavyweight champion
17 September 2016 – present 		Incumbent

Personal life

Usyk is married to Katerina and the couple have 3 children (born in 2009, 2013 and 2015).[17]

Roughly one month after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Usyk declared (on 28 April 2014) he would never exchange his Ukrainian citizenship for a Russian one and that he considered Crimea a part of Ukraine.[18]

In 2016, answering to a question if he can still enter Crimea and his patriotic position, he stated that he can enter Crimea after each of his fight; that he doesn't like to talk politics due to the fact that people like to take words out of context and that in Russia he has many followers and he doesn't divide "our peoples as we are Slavs".[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Medallists by weight category" (PDF). AIBA. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Gold gives Ukrainian heavyweight a reason to dance". Washington Post. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  3. ↑ Ivan Ivanov (September 25, 2013). "Oleksandr Usyk, an Olympic gold medalist, will make a pro debut on Nov.9". Eastside Boxing.
  4. ↑ "Usyk vs. Nsafoah in Germany". Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Oleksandr Usyk stops Daniel Bruwer in 7th round - Boxing News". 2014-10-04. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  6. ↑ "Oleksandr Usyk vs. Danie Venter on December 13th in Kiev, Ukraine - Boxing News". 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  7. ↑ "Oleksandr Usyk stops Johnny Muller - Boxing News". 2015-08-29. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  8. ↑ "Oleksandr Usyk destroys Pedro Rodriguez - Boxing News". 2015-12-13. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  9. ↑ "Krzysztof Głowacki vs. Oleksandr Usyk on September 17 - Boxing News". 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  10. ↑ "Glowacki ordered to make defense against Usyk". Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  11. ↑ "Glowacki and Usyk reach agreement, avoid bid". Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  12. ↑ "Krzysztof Glowacki to defend WBO title against Oleksandr Usyk live on Sky Sports". Sky Sports. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Oleksandr Usyk adds world title to Olympic gold by outpointing Krzysztof Glowacki". Sky Sports. September 18, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Oleksandr Usyk To Make His American Debut in December? - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  15. ↑ "Usyk-Mchunu added to B-Hop-Smith card | Boxing News". Boxing News. 2016-11-09. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
  16. ↑ "Usyk to make cruiserweight defense vs. Mchunu". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
  17. ↑ (Ukrainian) Oleksandr's wife Katerina gave birth to a son, Televiziyna Sluzhba Novyn (8 February 2013)
  18. ↑ (Ukrainian) Usyk: "I am Ukrainian, and Crimea is Ukrainian", Ukrayinska Pravda Champion (28 April 2014)
  19. ↑ "Усик: "Я не разделяю народы Украины и России, ибо мы славяне"". Xsport.ua (in Russian). 1 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
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