The undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (24–0, 15 KOs) has announced his next fight. “Yesterday morning I came back — I had been at a training camp.” “Training with a purpose — to step into the ring again? When?” “Next year. And with God’s help, I’ll get the victory.” “Against whom?” “Right now, I’d like to make something up for you…” “Itauma?” “No, not Itauma. He’s still young — he might hit me too hard. And he said he doesn’t beat up grandpas.” “I can’t tell you who yet, because negotiations are underway. I’d be lying if I named someone now.” “So at least one more year in your career for sure?” “I’ll keep boxing until I’m 41. After that, I’ll build a sports academy — I’ll be there coaching and training,” said Usyk.
Is this real? Or just a story? Edit: I saw DAZN and Talksport referring to the interview so it looks legit. Exciting either way, now everyone can move a bit in the division Usyk ain't dropping the belts anytime soon by the sound of it.
The undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (24–0, 15 KOs) spoke about his attitude toward defeat: “Thank God, I haven’t experienced that since 2009. I treat defeat as something that walks beside me. Many people are afraid to take the first step because they might make mistakes, or someone might say something to them. They’re afraid of losing. But I’ll say this: victory and defeat are brother and sister — they’re family. If you face difficulties, it doesn’t mean life is over. You can grow through them — but only if you analyze them. I do sparring sessions, we record everything, and the team edits a special video — not the whole hour and a half, only the moments where I make mistakes. We don’t include the moments where I win. We watch the footage and decide how to correct each mistake the next day, so our opponent can’t catch us again. It’s the same in business. You work — but your opponent doesn’t sleep either,” said Usyk.
This is from Oleksandr Usyk’s speech and conversation with journalists at the Kyiv International Economic Forum earlier today
Any ideas on who Usyk is negotiating with? I've watched pretty much all of Parker's interviews and if its him, either his team haven't told him or he is good at hiding it. Maybe its just Warren in general?
Petar Milas fights Rydell Booker today on DAZN, coming up in an hour or so. Milas had potential at one time, but has been terribly managed and has had long periods of inactivity during his 20s, including the two years before his Yoka fight, another year before his next fight, and then nearly two years after that until the next one. I hate it when young boxers are ruined by incompetent management.
Booker moving surprisingly well considering his physique, age and inactivity. Still got a relatively fast jab, shame he lost his prime.