Oleksandr Usyk
'the Cat'
Nation
Date of birth
january 17, 1987 (35 Years Old)
Height
6 ft 3 (191 cm)
Reach
78 in (198 cm)
Wins
21
Losses
0
Ko's
14
Oleksandr Usyk
'the cat'
Nation
DATE OF BIRTH
january 17, 1987 (35 Years Old)
Height
6 FT 3 (191 CM)
REACH
78 IN (198 CM)
wins
21
Losses
0
ko's
14
Notable Opponents
Titles Won
the ring lineal cruiserweight + heavyweight
Titles Won
the ring lineal cruiserweight + heavyweight
Background
Starting with boxing at the age of 15 in 2002, Usyk fought in different weight classes in the Amateurs, but it was as a Light Heavyweight where he found the most success; winning in the 2008 Strandja Memorial Tournament.
Usyk qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics despite losing in the qualifier finals, and he continued on to win a Ukrainian boxing tournament created by the Klitschko brothers for Ukrainian prospects. Later that year he fought in the 2008 Olympics but lost out to Heavyweight fighter Clemente Russo in the quarter-final.dd
He later found more success in the ensuing years, achieving victories at local and continental tournaments, and winning in the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships, scoring a notable victory against current undefeated Light Heavyweight Artur Beterbiev in the quarter-final. He qualified for the 2012 Olympics and made to to the final where he won against Clemente Russo – while also beating Artur Beterbiev again in another quarter-final match-up.
Usyk’s last tournament as an amateur was the 2012-2013 World Series of Boxing tournament. He comfortably won every five-round bout by UD, beating current Olympic gold medalist and Heavyweight contender Joe Joyce along the way.
Accomplishments
Signing under the Klitschko brothers’ K2 Promotions, Usyk became a pro in November 2013 and cruised to a TKO win in his Cruiserweight debut. After winning 3 more matches by KO, Usyk beat South African Daniel Brewer to win his first (International) belt less than a year after debuting: the WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title.
After retaining his title for the next two years while remaining unbeaten, Usyk fought for his first World title against then-champion Krzysztof Głowacki and beat him comfortably by unanimous decision. He continued to retain his belt two more times, beating contenders Thabiso Mchunu and Michael Hunter.
Later that same year in 2016, he entered the World Boxing Super Series for Cruiserweights, a tournament where all the participating boxers gain the opportunity to fight for world titles. He won 3 more world titles (WBC, WBO and IBF) at the hands of then-undefeated opponents such as Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev. His victory in the final also earned him the title of undisputed after winning all the world belts; the lineal Ring title he also won in the final sealed his place as the undisputed Cruiserweight champion (the first ever) and one of the best boxers of his era.
He then continued on to fight former WBC Cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew where he stopped Bellew who retired after (having already stated he’d stop as a professional prior the bout).
His success didn’t halt as a Cruiserweight however; Usyk moved up to the Heavyweight and after beating Heavyweights Chazz Whiterspoon and Derek Chisora, the WBA mandated unified champion Anthony Joshua to fight Usyk.
The match occured on the 25th of September in 2021, and Usyk achieved the ultimate success; beating Anthony Joshua by UD and obtaining all of his titles to become the unified Heavyweight champion. His success marks only the second time a Cruiserweight jumped up to Heavyweight to become a champion, following up Evander Holyfield and David Haye who achieved the same feat around prior.
With Usyk having made history twice, he only added more to his legacy when he beat former Unified Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua twice in 2021 and 2022, a magnificent achievement considering Joshua’s long reign as a world champion, and a unified heavyweight champion.
Roughly a year after Usyk’s rematch with Anthony Joshua in August of 2022, Oleksandr Usyk faced mandatory contender and WBA ‘regular’ champion Daniel Dubois in the second defense of his titles on August 26th in 2023. The match was slightly marred by a disputable fifth-round ruled low blow by Daniel Dubois, but Usyk put up a tremendous performance and was ruled the winner by KO after Dubois failed to beat the ten-count following a knockdown by a jab.
Boxing Style
Fighting as a Southpaw, Usyk is known for his impeccable footwork which he uses to his full advantage, being fully adept at moving in and out of range to attack or defend depending on the situation. He combines footwork with clever strategies where he utilizes his Southpaw stance to its fullest capability, prominently to trap opponents in positions where he can more easily defend shots than his adversaries, while still being able to launch effective and accurate punches of his own.
He further complements his footwork skills with well-timed counters. He is often known as a slow starter due to his tendency to counterattack, but that is often counterbalanced by his ability to preserve his stamina for later rounds where he’s proven to be able to unleash a flurry of punches while his opponent is often too tired to retaliate.
Usyk is also known to have a durable chin and power, which became more evident in all his Heavyweight matches – especially his championship bouts -, but also during his tenure as a Cruiserweight.
One of the most devastating arsenals in his possession is his speed, which he has often used to simply outwork opponents. His reaction speed is also on a comparable level with his speed and throughout his career, Usyk has further shown elite-level defensive skills when combining all of his attributes.