Oleksandr Usyk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Oleksandr Usyk |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg)
Usyk in 2022
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Cat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rated at |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach | 198 cm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 January 1987 Simferopol, Crimean Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stance | Southpaw | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins by KO | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk (Ukrainian: Олександр Олександрович Усик; born 17 January 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held the unified world heavyweight championship since 2021, and the Ring magazine title since 2022. He held the undisputed championship in two weight classes—cruiserweight and heavyweight—and is the third male boxer in history (after Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue) to become a two-weight undisputed champion in the "four-belt era".
Contents
Early life
Usyk was born in Simferopol, Crimean Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union on 17 January 1987, to parents originally from northern Ukraine. His mother was born in the Chernihiv region (in the village of Rybotyn, Korop Raion), while his father was a native of Sumy. His mother worked in construction and moved to Simferopol to study. His father was a military man who passed through Afghanistan, working as a security guard in Crimea, and the two met there.
He is the first born of his family and he has two siblings. Until age 15, he played 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.
Career
As an amateur, Usyk won heavyweight gold medals at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Olympics, He turned professional in 2013, and won the undisputed cruiserweight championship in his 15th professional fight in 2018. Three of his titles were won during the inaugural World Boxing Super Series, in which he won the Muhammad Ali Trophy, as well as the Ring and lineal cruiserweight titles. For his achievements, Usyk was named the 2018 Fighter of the Year by Sports Illustrated, ESPN, The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA).
In 2018 Usyk became the fourth male boxer in history to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles, after Jermain Taylor, Bernard Hopkins and Terence Crawford. He was the first Ukrainian undisputed champion. He is particularly notable for the speed of his accomplishments, winning his first world title in his tenth fight, and becoming the undisputed champion of his weight class by his fifteenth fight. Usyk vacated his cruiserweight titles in 2019 to move up to heavyweight. By that point, in sixteen fights he had defeated five current or former world champions. In September 2021, Usyk defeated unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to win the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO titles. He defended the titles in a rematch against Joshua in August 2022, whilst winning the vacant Ring title, and defeated Tyson Fury in May 2024 to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in four belt era.
Personal life
Usyk is married and has three children. They live in Kyiv, Ukraine.
His wife has Russian citizenship and the boxer uses Russian as his first language. On 28 April 2014, after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Usyk declared he would never exchange his Ukrainian citizenship for Russian citizen.
Usyk is an Orthodox Christian. After his fight against Anthony Joshua, he said in an interview, "The only thing I wanted to do with this fight is to give praise to my Lord Jesus Christ and to say that all comes from him."
On 26 February 2022, Usyk urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to call off Russia's invasion of Ukraine that had begun on 24 February. A few days later, Usyk, fellow boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko and Bellator MMA Welterweight Champion Yaroslav Amosov travelled to Ukraine to join the country's territorial defense forces, although in late March, Usyk left Ukraine to train for his rematch with Anthony Joshua.
In 2022, he became a co-founder and brand ambassador of the Ready to Fight - international blockchain platform, whose mission is to make building a boxing career easier and more accessible by creating effective connections between athletes, managers, agents, doctors and other specialized professionals, as well as sports services, infrastructure and fans.
In 2023, Usyk signed a one-year professional contract with Ukrainian Premier League team FC Polissya Zhytomyr. He was given the number 17. He previously made a substitute appearance for the club in the 76th minute of a 2–1 friendly win over Veres in February 2022. Usyk has stated he intends to play football after he retires from boxing.
Professional boxing record
| 23 fights | 23 wins | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 14 | 0 |
| By decision | 9 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Tyson Fury | UD | 12 | 21 Dec 2024 | Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Retained WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Tyson Fury | SD | 12 | 18 May 2024 | Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Retained WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles; Won WBC heavyweight title |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Daniel Dubois | KO | 9 (12), 1:48 | 26 Aug 2023 | Stadion Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland | Retained WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Anthony Joshua | SD | 12 | 20 Aug 2022 | King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | Retained WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles; Won vacant The Ring heavyweight title |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Anthony Joshua | UD | 12 | 25 Sep 2021 | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England | Won WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Derek Chisora | UD | 12 | 31 Oct 2020 | The SSE Arena, London, England | Won WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Chazz Witherspoon | RTD | 7 (12), 3:00 | 12 Oct 2019 | Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Tony Bellew | KO | 8 (12), 2:00 | 10 Nov 2018 | Manchester Arena, Manchester, England | Retained WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring cruiserweight titles |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Murat Gassiev | UD | 12 | 21 Jul 2018 | Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia | Retained WBC and WBO cruiserweight titles; Won WBA (Super), IBF and vacant The Ring cruiserweight titles; World Boxing Super Series: cruiserweight final |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Mairis Briedis | MD | 12 | 27 Jan 2018 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia | Retained WBO cruiserweight title; Won WBC cruiserweight title; World Boxing Super Series: cruiserweight semi-final |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Marco Huck | TKO | 10 (12), 2:12 | 9 Sep 2017 | Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany | Retained WBO cruiserweight title; World Boxing Super Series: cruiserweight quarter-final |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Michael Hunter | UD | 12 | 8 Apr 2017 | MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland, US | Retained WBO cruiserweight title |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Thabiso Mchunu | TKO | 9 (12), 1:53 | 17 Dec 2016 | The Forum, Inglewood, California, US | Retained WBO cruiserweight title |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Krzysztof Głowacki | UD | 12 | 17 Sep 2016 | Ergo Arena, Gdańsk, Poland | Won WBO cruiserweight title |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Pedro Rodriguez | TKO | 7 (12), 1:57 | 12 Dec 2015 | Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine | Retained WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Johnny Muller | TKO | 3 (12), 2:59 | 29 Aug 2015 | Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine | Retained WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Andrey Knyazev | TKO | 8 (10), 2:24 | 18 Apr 2015 | Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine | Retained WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Danie Venter | TKO | 9 (10), 2:29 | 13 Dec 2014 | Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine | Retained WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Daniel Bruwer | TKO | 7 (10), 2:55 | 4 Oct 2014 | Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine | Won vacant WBO interim Inter-Continental cruiserweight title |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Cesar David Crenz | KO | 4 (8), 2:19 | 31 May 2014 | Sports Palace, Odesa, Ukraine | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Ben Nsafoah | KO | 3 (8), 1:43 | 26 Apr 2014 | König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Epifanio Mendoza | TKO | 4 (6), 2:10 | 7 Dec 2013 | Ice Arena TEC Terminal, Brovary, Ukraine | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Felipe Romero | TKO | 5 (6), 1:36 | 9 Nov 2013 | Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine |
World Series of Boxing record
| 6 fights | 6 wins | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 2 | 0 |
| By decision | 4 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Mihai Nistor | UD | 5 | 10 May 2013 | Saryarka Velodrome, Astana, Kazakhstan | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Matteo Modugno | TKO | 2 (5), 1:57 | 13 Apr 2013 | Casinò di Campione, Campione d'Italia, Italy | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Magomedrasul Majidov | UD | 5 | 22 Mar 2013 | Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Joe Joyce | UD | 5 | 1 Mar 2013 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Eric Brechlin | TKO | 3 (5), 1:30 | 1 Feb 2013 | ACCO International Exhibition Center, Kyiv, Ukraine | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Junior Fa | UD | 5 | 11 Jan 2013 | ACCO International Exhibition Center, Kyiv, Ukraine |
Titles in boxing
Major world titles
- WBA (Super) cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
- WBC cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
- IBF cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
- WBO cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
- WBA (Super) heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
- WBC heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
- IBF heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
- WBO heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
The Ring magazine titles
- The Ring cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
- The Ring heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
Minor world titles
- IBO heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
Regional/International titles
- WBO interim Inter-Continental cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
- WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
- WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
Undisputed titles
- Undisputed cruiserweight champion
- Undisputed heavyweight champion
Honorary titles
- WBA Man of Triumph Gold champion
- WBC Diamond cruiserweight champion
- WBO Super Champion
- WBC cruiserweight champion-in-recess
- WBC Undisputed I champion
- WBC Rumble in the Jungle champion
Awards
- Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Sugar Ray Robinson Award Fighter of the Year: 2018
- Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) John McCain-Bill Crawford Courage Award: 2022
- The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year: 2018, 2024
- The Ring magazine Event of the Year: 2024
- The Ring magazine Round of the Year: 2024
- Muhammad Ali Trophy: 2018
- ESPN Fighter of the Year: 2018, 2024
- ESPN Fight of the Year: 2024
- WBC Fighter of the Year: 2018, 2024
- WBC Knockout of the Year: 2018
- WBA Fighter of the Year: 2018, 2024
- WBA Boxer of the Month: July 2018, September 2021
- WBO Fighter of the Year: 2022, 2024
- WBO Fight of the Year: 2022, 2024
- WBO Intercontinental Fighter of the Year: 2015
- Sports Illustrated's Fighter of the Year: 2018, 2024
- Sports Illustrated’s Fight of the Year: 2024
- CBS Sports Boxer of the Year: 2018
- CBS Sports Fighter of the Year: 2024
- CBS Sports Fight of the Year: 2024
- Yahoo! Sports Fighter of the Year: 2018
- Uncrowned’s Male Fighter of the Year: 2024
- Sporting News’ Fighter of the Year: 2018, 2024
- Los Angeles Daily News Fighter of the Year: 2018
- WBN Fighter of the Year: 2022, 2024
- WBN Fight of the Year: 2024
- WBN World Title Prospect of the Year: 2016
- The RING 8 Historical Award: 2018
- FanSided Fighter of the Year: 2018
- Boxing Insider's Fighter of the Year: 2018, 2024
- Boxing News’ Fighter of the Year: 2024
- The Sweet Science (TSS) Fighter of the Year: 2024
- BoxingScene's Fighter of the Year: 2018, 2024
- The Queensberry Rules Fighter of the Year: 2018
Viewership
Pay-per-view bouts
| No. | Date | Fight | Country | Network | Buys | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 November 2018 | Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tony Bellew |
|
Sky Box Office |
|
|
| 2 | 31 October 2020 | Oleksandr Usyk vs. Derek Chisora |
|
Sky Box Office |
|
|
|
|
MEGOGO |
|
||||
| 3 | 25 September 2021 | Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk |
|
Sky Box Office |
|
|
| 4 | 22 August 2022 | Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua II |
|
Sky Box Office |
|
|
| 5 | 26 August 2023 | Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois |
|
TNT Sports Box Office | ||
| 6 | 18 May 2024 | Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk |
|
DAZN PPV, PPV.com, ESPN+ PPV, Sky Box Office, TNT Sports Box Office |
|
|
| 7 | 21 December 2024 | Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury II |
|
DAZN PPV, Sky Box Office, TNT Sports Box Office | ||
| Total sales | 5,959,000 | |||||
International
| No. | Date | Fight | Country | Network | Viewers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 August 2022 | Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua II | Ukraine | MEGOGO | 1,500,000 | |
| Total viewership | 1,500,000 | |||||
Filmography
 |
Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | The Fight Rules | Professional Boxer | ||
| 2018 | The Stolen Princess | “Sholom” (Troyeschyna gangster) | ||
| 2024 | A Tale As Old As Time: Ring of Fire | Himself | Promotional short film | |
| 2024 | Reignited - Can’t Get You Out of My Head | Himself | Promotional short film | |
| 2025 | The Smashing Machine |
Igor Vovchanchyn |
Podcasts
| Air Date | Title | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 20, 2025 | The Ring Podcast | Exclusive guest |
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Undisputed | Himself |
Images for kids
-
Usyk in 2012
-
Usyk's fight with Andrey Knyazev attracted 3.6 million viewers on Ukrainian television
.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Oleksandr Usyk para niños
- List of WBA world champions
- List of WBC world champions
- List of IBF world champions
- List of WBO world champions
- List of IBO world champions
- List of The Ring world champions
- List of world cruiserweight boxing champions
- List of world heavyweight boxing champions
- List of undisputed world boxing champions
- Boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- List of Olympic medalists in boxing
