Oleksandr Usyk: Simferopol’s world champion boxer says keys to success are high aims, hard work

Name: Oleksandr Usyk

Age: 29

Education: Lviv State University of Physical Culture

Profession: Boxer

Did you know? Usyk lost his very first amateur fight

Oleksandr Usyk won the World Boxing Organization cruiserweight champion belt in just his 10th professional fight on Sept. 17, breaking the previous record of Evander Holyfield, who won his first world title in his 12th professional fight.

“We aimed high and people were saying I wasn’t ready yet, but my team and I always set goals that are not easy,” Usyk says.

Born in Simferopol, Usyk still considers it his home and visits frequently, despite Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014. But these days, Usyk lives in Kyiv.

“We moved for my work. A big city means more opportunities, including opportunities for my children, but Crimea remains my home,” Usyk says.

Usyk started boxing at the age of 15 in Simferopol. As his amateur boxing career continued, he got financial support from a sports club, which helped him buy food for his family and diapers for his baby daughter Liza. Even now that he has become a European champion, he has still had to ask friends for financial help, he says.

“Of course you will be poor at times, you will lose, and you will get criticized. But you need to get out there and train, you need to work hard to succeed.”

Usyk believes that sport is important for Ukraine’s national image, and that more should be done to promote sports in Ukraine.

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“This last Olympics I think there were more Ukrainian politicians present than sportsmen… If people have three or five jobs, where can they find time to fit sport into their life?”

Usyk first became widely known after winning a boxing gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics: A video of the celebratory Ukrainian hopak dance he performed in the ring after his win immediately went viral. As of today, he has fought around 300 amateur fights and 10 professional fights. As a professional, he is undefeated.

In his free time the boxer spends time with his wife Kateryna and their three children. He reads psychological, religious and educational literature, and writes poems. He has also been a devout Christian since childhood.

Usyk admires the late U.S. boxer Mohammad Ali – for his personal qualities above all. He says boxers become great through actions and words, rather than just their fight record.

“I don’t do what I do just so that people say how great I am. We shouldn’t be saying bad things about each other, but just do our jobs instead.”