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Oleksandr Usyk

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Oleksandr Usyk
Usyk in April 2015
Born
Олександр Усик

(1987-01-17) January 17, 1987 (age 37)
Simferopol, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityUkrainian
Other namesThe Cat
Statistics
Weight(s)Cruiserweight
Height190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Reach198 cm (78 in)
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights10
Wins10
Wins by KO9
Losses0
Draws0
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Ukraine
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Heavyweight
World Amateur Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Baku Heavyweight
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Milan Heavyweight
European Amateur Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Liverpool Light heavyweight
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Plovdiv Middleweight

Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk (Ukrainian: Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович У́сик) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held the WBO cruiserweight title since September 2016. He won the 2008 European Amateur Boxing Championships at light-heavyweight, the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships at heavyweight and the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics in the heavyweight division. A southpaw, Usyk has a professional record of 10-0 and boasts a 90% knockout ratio.

Earlier in 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 Cruiserweight champion

Usyk vs. Glowacki

In June 2016, it was announced that Usyk would challenge undefeated Polish boxer Krzysztof Glowacki (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 Glowacki 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 Glowacki’s eye early in the fight, also using his dominant hand speed and footwork which helped him score the decision win.[13]

Professional boxing record

10 fights, 10 wins (9 knockouts), 0 losses (0 knockouts)[14]
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
10 Win 10–0 Poland Krzysztof Głowacki UD 12 17 Sep 2016 Poland Ergo Arena, Gdańsk Won WBO cruiserweight title
9 Win 9–0 Cuba Pedro Rodriguez TKO 7 (12), 1:57 12 Dec 2015 Ukraine Sport Palace, Kiev Retained WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title.
8 Win 8–0 South Africa Johnny Muller TKO 3 (12), 2:59 29 Aug 2015 Ukraine Sport Palace, Kiev Retained WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title.
7 Win 7–0 Russia Andrey Knyazev TKO 8 (10), 2:24 18 Apr 2015 Ukraine Sport Palace, Kiev Retained WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title.
6 Win 6–0 South Africa Danie Venter TKO 9 (10), 2:29 13 Dec 2014 Ukraine Sport Palace, Kiev Retained WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title.
5 Win 5–0 South Africa Daniel Bruwer TKO 7 (12), 2:55 04 Oct 2014 Ukraine Arena Lviv, Lviv Won interim WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title.
4 Win 4–0 Argentina Cesar David Crenz KO 4 (8), 2:19 31 May 2014 Ukraine Sport Palace, Odessa
3 Win 3–0 Germany Ben Nsafoah KO 3 (8), 1:43 26 Apr 2014 Germany König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen
2 Win 2–0 Colombia Epifanio Mendoza TKO 4 (6), 2:10 07 Dec 2013 Ukraine TEC Terminal Ice Arena, Brovary
1 Win 1–0 Mexico Felipe Romero TKO 5 (6), 1:36 11 Sep 2013 Ukraine Sport Palace, Kiev Professional debut.

Personal life

Usyk is married to Katerina and the couple have 3 children (born in 2009, 2013 and 2015).[15]

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.[16]

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".[17]

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. ^ Boxing record for Oleksandr Usyk from BoxRec (registration required)
  15. ^ Template:Uk icon Oleksandr's wife Katerina gave birth to a son, Televiziyna Sluzhba Novyn (8 February 2013)
  16. ^ Template:Uk icon Usyk: "I am Ukrainian, and Crimea is Ukrainian", Ukrayinska Pravda Champion (28 April 2014)
  17. ^ "Усик: "Я не разделяю народы Украины и России, ибо мы славяне"". Xsport.ua (in Russian). 1 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oleksandr Usyk.
World titles
Preceded by WBO cruiserweight champion
17 September 2016 – present 		Incumbent
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