Command Oleksandr Usyk confirmed the information that the Ukrainian IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion left Ukraine to train before the second fight with Anthony Joshua.
“Indeed, we crossed the border of Ukraine, but not with Poland, but with Hungary,” said Oleksandr Krasyuk, Usyk’s promoter, who will accompany him on this trip. — Usyk went to the training camp before the fight with Anthony Joshua. For now, I will not announce where this gathering will take place. As for the date of the fight, we want it to take place in the first month of summer."
The first fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua took place on September 25 in London, in which the Briton lost in boxing on points. The contract contained a rematch clause, which AJ's team decided to activate.
Immediately after Russia's armed invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 35-year-old Usyk returned to his homeland. Earlier, he briefly went to the UK for work. In the only interview given during the war, for the American television channel CNN, he stated that he was with his family and other relatives in his house near Kiev.
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The Olympic champion of London and the former absolute champion in the first heavy weight also joined the ranks of the territorial defense of the Kiev region. Earlier, there was information that Usyk received special permission from the state to leave Ukraine to start training, but Egis Klimas, the manager of the Ukrainian, denied this information. As a father of three children, Usyk could leave at any moment.