“It was the day she turned 12 and so of course she cried a bit,” Oleksandr Usyk says quietly as he remembers how his daughter Yelizaveta’s birthday was overshadowed earlier this year, on 24 February, the day that Russia invaded Ukraine. The world heavyweight champion runs his hand through his damp hair, which is cut in the style of a Cossack warrior, and for a moment it feels as if he is back home on that terrible winter morning when the first bombs rained down.
“My wife spoke to her, explaining what had happened, and soon my daughter understood very well what we are all facing in Ukraine,” Usyk says. “It was difficult but she got it and the main thing is that she is safe now. She will be OK.”
On a ferociously hot Saturday evening for him in Dubai, almost six months since that abandoned birthday party, the ominous shadow of war still hangs over Usyk as he prepares to defend his IBF, WBA and WBO titles against Anthony Joshua. This coming Saturday night in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Usyk and Joshua will step into the ring for their fascinating rematch.
Usyk stripped Joshua of all his belts with an imperious performance in London last September. But all the typical hoopla of a world heavyweight title fight, at least for the new champion, gives way to more humane concerns. He is not interested in making any predictions of what may unfold between the ropes – or whether Joshua, who is now being guided by Robert Garcia, the outstanding Mexican-American trainer, will tear up his mistaken strategy from the first fight.
All the indications are that Joshua will opt for a much more aggressive approach and look to use his considerable physical advantages to try to hurt and even knock out Usyk. The Ukrainian is the superior and more natural boxer, with a skill-set Joshua can never hope to match, and Garcia has spoken openly of the need to bully and attack Usyk.
In response to the looming threat Usyk has spent his long and arduous training camp bulking up his physique. He was majestic in becoming the undisputed world cruiserweight champion before, in 2019, he moved up to heavyweight where most of boxing’s vast riches are on offer.
He beat Joshua in only his third heavyweight contest but he has apparently since packed on 15 kilos of muscle in preparation for Joshua’s renewed threat.
“In the first month of the war I lost 10 pounds,” Usyk says as he remembers how, like so many Ukrainians, he shed weight amid the stress and worry. “But when I started preparing for this fight I quickly gained the weight and my team put in all this incredible work to strengthen my body. I don’t want to say a lot about the weight but the main thing is I feel incredibly fit and strong. You can see it in the gym but I am really going to prove this in the ring.”
His team have posted videos on social media of Usyk looking formidable as he rips into the heavy bag, and there are stories of how sparring partners have been forced to leave camp because of the punishment they have absorbed. I am more interested in whether, despite now resembling a fully fledged heavyweight, Usyk will retain his usual speed and dexterity. He grins. “That’s not going to be a problem at all.”
Usyk told me a few months ago in London that Joshua did not hurt him in their first bout, even though he admitted it had been a hard fight. He was in the UK for a media conference to publicise the rematch but, after his promotional duties, Usyk sat down with a few of us. It was striking how open he was about the impact of the war on him as he reflected on the month he spent as a Ukrainian soldier.
“Every day I was there, I was praying and asking: ‘Please, God, don’t let anybody try to kill me. Please don’t let anybody shoot me. And please don’t make me shoot any other person.’”
Even more movingly, Usyk said: “My children are asking: ‘Father, why do they want to kill us?’” The world heavyweight champion looked briefly helpless when, after a long pause, he said: “I don’t know what to tell them.”
I return to that moment now and ask Usyk if, as the war grinds on with no end in sight, his three children still voice that very human question. “They do,” he says, “but I have the answer now. I explain to my kids that the Russians are trying to kill us because they are weak people. I also tell them this is the same reason why they are not going to win the war. We are stronger than them.”
He is still their father and so they must feel some fear and concern as he faces Joshua again. Will they watch the fight? “I really trust my kids and it is up to them if they see the fight. And even if I tell them they can’t watch they will probably do it anyway. I don’t want them to have to lie and say they didn’t watch. I want to keep that trusting relationship and be honest with them. I trust them to know what is best for them and whether or not they watch me fight.”
Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images/Reuters
Usyk has ensured that all Ukrainians will be able to watch him against Joshua. He was willing to cover any financial costs to remove the pay-per-view restrictions in Ukraine but an agreement was soon reached to make the fight available for free in his own country. “It’s great and it will show the connection between me and Ukraine. The fact that everyone at home can watch will inspire me.”
It is easy to imagine that Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be among those millions of viewers, given that Usyk is one of the most famous and revered people in Ukraine. Has Usyk spoken recently to Zelenskiy? “Our president has a lot of work right now so he’s really busy with all the country’s issues. But I will speak to him later and it will be an honour.”
Usyk has set up a foundation in response to the war and he talks passionately about his work with the UK-based sports NFT platform Blockasset. They have just launched an exclusive digital artwork collection of 2,000 items in a bid to raise $2m for the Usyk Foundation which will support humanitarian aid for Ukrainians in need of medical care, shelter and food. “It’s a great initiative,” Usyk says, “and the collection captures big moments in my career, like beating Anthony Joshua in London. They are totally unique assets to raise money for Ukraine.”
Does Usyk worry that the world is beginning to forget about the war? “I think some people are not doing enough to help Ukraine. Lots of people are trying to hide and just wait until the war ends and hope that it will not touch them. But it’s not possible because it will touch everybody somehow. All of us should pay attention to what is happening and do something.”
What has been the lowest moment for him since the war began? “The whole time has been really tough. I don’t want anyone to pity me but the toughest time was at the beginning of the war because I wasn’t with my family. Not being with my wife and children is the toughest for me. But I got through this because I prayed to God and I felt confident again.”
His family home in Vorzel was broken into by Russian soldiers who used it as a base for a short time. Usyk stresses: “I have people rebuilding it, so everything is going to be OK.”
Such strife makes routine boxing queries seem redundant even though another victory for Usyk would carry profound resonance for Ukraine. But will Joshua be desperate to win because a second successive defeat would be a shattering outcome for him? “I am just going to box like it’s a normal fight, so I don’t know about Joshua. But I won’t be just as good as any other time I have fought. I will be better.”
In the first fight there were times when it looked as if Usyk had the ability even to stop Joshua. Could he actually win by knockout this weekend? “I am not going to make any predictions but right now I need my dinner. I am really hungry. My time is up.”
He says this politely but with the kind of conviction he carries in the ring. Our video call is about to end before I have had time to ask Usyk about any misgivings he might harbour about fighting in Saudi Arabia – where the treatment of so many ordinary people is as cruel as it is deadly. No amount of sportswashing can obscure the executions and imprisonments that occur under a brutal regime. It is a question Usyk has not answered before but there is no shifting him now. The interview is over and he wants a break on the very last night of his training camp.
It is hard to resent Usyk, an intelligent and friendly man who explained to us earlier this year how war had changed him. “Sometimes I just force myself to bring a smile,” he said in London. “Sometimes I just force myself to sing. I don’t even know how to explain it.”
The gravity of Russia’s invasion has marked him and it clouds the logic which suggests that Usyk should be too good yet again for Joshua. The war means that this is no ordinary world heavyweight title fight. Usyk might even be more driven in the ring, fuelled by his desire to win for Ukraine, or perhaps the toll of the conflict will diminish him.
His team are in no doubt that his resolve and fortitude are stronger than ever. Hearing again about the heatwave in Europe, Sergey Lapin, a key member of his camp, smiles: “It was 49 degrees in Dubai today but you look at Oleksandr and you would not even know it. He’s a warrior.”
The Ukrainian warrior is about to head off for his last supper in Dubai, before flying to Saudi in the morning, but he calls out his thanks for the interview and says: “With God’s help, after this fight, I will get back to my motherland, to Ukraine.”
Usyk raises his hand and in that sombre moment he looks determined to return home with his family and his status as world heavyweight champion intact.
