In September 2016, the Ukrainian southpaw won the WBO cruiserweight belt by defeating Krzysztof Głowacki in Poland. He added the WBC title in Latvia in January 2018 by defeating Mairis Briedis. Usyk unified the entire weight category by defeating Murat Gassiev, the then WBA and IBF champion, in Russia.
Usyk won the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight belts last September by defeating Anthony Joshua in England and then managed to defeat the Englishman again in August. Now the Ukrainian is counting on teaming up with WBC champion Tyson Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) and is considering a fight with Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs), but also does not rule out the possibility of returning to cruiserweight.
“Sometimes I think about returning to the first heavyweight. In heavyweight, you have to have your pounds, so I have to eat a lot. Fighting these giants is not as difficult as what I have to eat all the time, ”admitted the ten-year-old Olympic champion, who weighed his career maximum, 100.5 kg, before the August rematch with Joshua.
“Not only food, but also strength training requires more dedication from me. Boxing in the cruiser category, I didn't work that much. Now I'm a little distracted from training, ”added Usyk, whose manager Egis Klimas assures that his fighter will be ready for the next fight immediately after his 36th birthday on January 17.
Recall that the current world heavyweight champions are: WBC Ilunga Makabu (29-2, 25 KOs), WBA Arsen Gulamiryan (26-0, 18 KOs), IBF Jai Opetaya (22-0, 17 KOs) and WBO Lawrence Okoli (18-0, 14 KOs).