THIS year, Oleksandr Usyk was preparing for the biggest fight of his life…but it wasn’t in the ring.
Despite a planned money consuming Anthony Joshua rematchwhich eventually takes place in Saudi Arabia on August 20, the Ukrainian put his career on hold for a fight closer to home.
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The fighter was born in the Crimean city of Simferopol, but is now based in Kiev with his family.
and Usyk put on his army gear and joined the Ukrainian Territorial Forces in Kiev in February.
In doing so, he defended his country and sought revenge for the Russians who annexed his hometown of Simferopol in 2014.
He proudly wears the colors of the Ukrainian flags in the ring.
Wearing his heart on his gloves
When Usyk outclassed Joshua last year at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, written on his gloves ‘Simferopol’ and ‘Ukraine’.
Celebrating a famous points win, he gleefully carried the yellow-and-blue flag on his shoulders.
“The belts are going home,” Usyk said in an Instagram video shortly after the fight.
While the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky took to Facebook to write: “Ukraine has reclaimed what belongs to it!”
Returning to Kiev as a hero, Usyk stated that he intended to take the belts home to the Crimea to show them to his coach.
But this has met with some criticism — with some Ukrainians questioning the belief he shared that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people.”
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He also traveled to the front lines in eastern Ukraine to teach Ukrainian army soldiers how to box.
It may have been a mystery where his loyalties lay – until just a few months ago.
Ready for battle
Machine gun in hand, Usyk posed next to his comrades, including Andrii Nebytov, the Kiev police chief, and revealed that he had joined the army.
The married father of three then took to social media to stand up to Putin.
“Good morning everyone. My name is Oleksandr Usyk. I would like to speak to the people of Russia.
“If we consider ourselves brothers, Orthodox, don’t send your children to our country, don’t fight with us.
“I also address this to the President, Vladimir Putin. You can stop this war.
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“Please sit down and negotiate with us without claims.
“Our children, wives, grandmothers are hiding in the cellars. We are here in our own country, we cannot do otherwise.
‘We defend. Stop this war, stop it. No war.’
He was joined by boxing heroes the Klitschko brothers and Vasiliy Lomachenko in the fight.
An enraged Putin has reportedly put a bounty on their heads.
That meant the planned rematch with Joshua was delayed. But AJ supported Usyk’s decision and defended the boxers who stood up for their country.
“I’ve learned that sports and politics go hand in hand,” Joshua said.
“They have powerful voices and it’s good that they’re making their voices heard.
“They’re not pushing for war, they’re calling for peace. Good luck to them.”
But that did not sit well with the chairman of the Crimean parliament Vladimir Konstantinov, who robbed him of his honor with Crimea.
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As reported by RIAhe said: “These are [people] who arranged and welcomed the water and energy blockade of Crimea, who question the fairness and legitimacy of our return to Russia, who have sullied themselves with russophobia.
“People like that are not worthy of a good memory.”
With his Crimean roots, not only did he come with a price tag on his return home, it also affected his appearance.
Usyk’s wife Yekaterina shared: “Oleksandr lost 10 kilos in a week of the war. He was so shocked, in such shock, he was so torn…
“He saw what I was doing. I said, ‘Sasha, please people ask, we need to talk, support somehow.’
“But it is very difficult for him. But he is still going up in the air, he is saying something. His position is clear. He has always been for Ukraine, he has always glorified it and will glorify it, as long as his health and strength last .”
Back to training
In March, Usyk was cleared to leave Kiev and return to training for his rematch with Joshua.
The couple will go head to head in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with the WBA, WBO and IBF championship belts on the line.
But despite all that he has seen and knows, he will not use the war in Ukraine as motivation for the blockbuster.
“My friends and people close to me, they died in the war. When so many people suffer, I have no idea how it can affect anything positive,” Usyk said at a news conference last month.
“I was there for a month and I saw with my own eyes what happened there… the missiles that flew and the jets that flew. It’s terrible.”
He also spoke horribly of death.
“Every day I was there I prayed and asked, ‘Please, God, don’t let anyone try to kill me.
“Please don’t let anyone shoot me. And please don’t make me shoot anyone else.’
While he was gone, Russian soldiers searched his home in Vorzel after using it as their living quarters.
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Whatever happens in the ring in the Middle East, nothing can match the atrocities of war.
And you can be sure that when that match is over, he will return to his home country, ready for a whole new battle. Defending his country.