Oleksandr Oleksandrovych "The Poltava Predator" Khyzhniak

Update: per a pair of interviews with the ASJU (Association of Sports Journalists of Ukraine) last month, Khyzhniak's primary focus at the moment is preparation for the XXXIV Olympiad in Los Angeles in 2028.

It will be his third Olympics (bronzing in 2020 and grabbing the gold last year) after spending half of his life vying to get there in the first place. He was ineligible for the London games in 2012, as he was on a losing streak in tourneys before they started...and taking silver that summer in the Klitschko Bros Youth Tournament was insufficient balm for his wounded pride. He actually reached the semifinals of Europe's qualifiers for Rio in 2016 - but was eliminated by Joshua Buatsi. Finally he reached the promised land (of the rising sun), competing for Ukraine in Tokyo and getting himself on the medal table, and took it a step further to become champion in Paris.

He says he isn't opposed to making a debut and run in the pros, and in fact is leaning toward doing so - but that it's a secondary goal to his ambition of adding to his medal collection. If the Olympic committee decides to even include the sport of boxing (which as of now is still up in the air) he will be teammates and training partners with friend Oleksandr Usyk, whom Khyzhniak cheered on from ringside recently in the Daniel Dubois rematch. Usyk has also expressed his desire to represent their country in 2028 (even if retired from the pros by then).

Khyzhniak says that he will compete next - in whichever format - hopefully in early 2026. Twelve days ago marked a year already since he last fought.

 

Twenty-two years in the game foregoing the pros to chase Olympic medals is insane levels of dedication...like the Cubans of yester-century, except none of them had the pure brawler style of Khyzhniak.