Usyk wasnt even in 1st gear

Of course he wasn't

Russ Anber

'Being in Chicago last weekend with [Oleksandr] Usyk was great. It was a great promotion and Usyk got a great reception. Everything went off well apart from one hitch, which turned out being inconsequential to a degree but still bothered me. In fact I can't believe the same thing has now happened to me twice in my last few fights.

It's crazy but once again we had an issue with an opponent being allowed to switch gloves in the dressing room and us in the Usyk camp not being told about it. Of course, this also happened before the Oscar Rivas vs Dillian Whyte fight when I was working with Rivas.

Usyk vs Witherspoon wasn't a title fight, but it was an elimination fight. Fortunately, what happened with the gloves didn't end up making a difference to the fight but it wasn't fair. People in boxing talk so much about being transparent and fair surrounding fighters' safety and things like this should not be taken lightly.

Fighters should always be given the respect they deserve and the Usyk camp should have been notified that Witherspoon was looking to change his gloves. What's the use of having a glove selection meeting if later you're just going to say: 'these gloves fit me yesterday, but not today?'

Anyway, that issue to one side, it was a terrific night. You would have thought we were in Kiev as the Ukrainian fans really showed up. They are really proud of Usyk - they love him and rightly so, as he has to be one of - if not the most - charismatic fighters in boxing today. If he spoke English more people would realise this.

Usyk is funny, he's likeable and people feel a connection with him. He's cool, he's approachable, he's humble. He's what boxing needs. We need more Usyks in the sport. He's a good guy - a guy who proves that with hard work, effort and perseverance you can reach your goals. A guy who proves you don't have to be a bad person or a trash talker to succeed.

As usual, Usyk used Rival gloves, the brand that I own. He has used our gloves since his December 2016 fight against Thabiso Mchunu in Inglewood, which was also the first time I wrapped his hands. For the Witherspoon fight we also made him, for the first time, a pair of boots. We sorted that out with a new manufacturer who we are working with. From what Usyk said to me after the fight he really loved the boots, he was very comfortable and happy with them. I was really pleased about that.

As for his performance on Saturday, I'd give Usyk a solid 8.5 or 9 out of ten. Chazz took the fight on short notice and you can't come into a fight against Usyk without being 150 per cent ready because this guy is like the racehorse Secretariat. He just keeps going and going and the longer a fight goes on the more he picks up the pace. Most fighters slow down as a fight goes on but with Usyk he picks it up. If you can't live with that rate and rhythm then you're in for a long night. Witherspoon is a tricky little fighter - he's got a good skill set, he knows how to defend himself and get sneaky shots in - but Usyk just doesn't let you rest.

Looking at his performance from a coaching point of view there is one thing I would like to fix - I'm not going to tell you what! - and I think that's something we will get fixed in the gym for the next fight.'

I wish Usyk would opt for another brand of gloves instead of those big Rival ones that look like pillows. His punches looked to carry more sting and snap to them before he switched to those IMO.