ESPN story about Ukrainian boxers defending their country

American sports journalist Mark Kriegel posted a short news story on his Instagram about Ukrainian boxers who are now defending their country from Russian occupation.

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Additions, extensions Mark Kriegel (@mark_kriegel)

“When the invasion began, Vasily Lomachenko was in a monastery on top of a mountain in Greece. In the silence, he heard a call to arms. “But you have a beautiful house in California! said his manager Egis Klimas. "Take your family there!" "Are you suggesting that I run away?" Lomachenko asked. “But you are jeopardizing your fight! the manager replied. “All the belts you worked so hard for!” “They are endangering my country,” Lomachenko said.

“By Sunday, he was seen in combat uniform with a machine gun as a territorial defense fighter. By Monday, such battalions appeared throughout Ukraine, and the current heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk was in their ranks. Tens of millions of dollars were at stake for Usyk for a rematch with Anthony Joshua, but he also felt he had no choice.

“Now he is the third heavyweight champion, ready to die defending his country. Among them are Wladimir Klitschko and his brother Vitaliy, the mayor of Kyiv.

"If Putin's occupiers faced tougher than expected resistance, perhaps this has something to do with the national character of Ukraine, and something in this character has been revealed in the ring since 1996.

“Ukraine won 15 Olympic medals in boxing and gave the world eight professional champions.

“Other athletes also came to the defense, but other sports are a metaphor for wrestling, while boxing is a real fight. The only difference is that boxing is a fair fight, and war is never fair,” ESPN said in a story.