Big Week for Ukraine's Top Boxing Stars

 Written by: Danny Albers 

There haven't been a lot of happy things to cover when discussing affairs and news out of Ukraine. They remain engaged in a brutal war with Russia that has been going on for the last 2-3 years. With world politics and the war aside, Ukrainian boxing fans everywhere were given reason to be filled with national pride when Olympic boxing heroes Alexander Usyk and Vasily Lomanchenko headlined an action packed week in what has been a massive month for Boxing. The two men have cut their teeth on two different streaming services. Lomachenko has been one of the biggest features for ESPN Top Rank Boxing, while Alexander Usyk has taken over DAZN along with the heavyweight division. 

A year ago, Vasily Lomachenko suffered one of the most challenging losses of his career. Losing to Devin Haney for the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles, Lomachenko was left with no belts in his camp. For the first time in his career, Lomachenko was the challenger. A year later, Lomachenko found himself in Australia fighting for redemption against a hometown darling in George Kambosos. Hometown advantage was the only thing Kambosos had over Lomachenko, as the Ukrainian would dominate all aspects of the fight. He outstruck Kambosos 175 to 40, and captured the IBF and IBO lightweight titles by beating Kambosos by 11th round TKO. This result capped a very tough night for Australian fighters, as earlier in the fight, Australian veteran fighter Andrew Maloney claimed “I’m done with this sport” and retired following a controversial ruling losing him the fight. Lightweight remains one of the most stacked divisions in boxing. Fellow Ukrainian Dennis Berinchyk currently holds the WBO Lightweight title, and young phenom fighters Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson WBA and WBC titles. There is no easy route for Lomachenko, but any of those 3 fights will be big money fights should he take them. A meeting between Lomachenko and Berinchyk would split the Ukrainian boxing faithful.

After dominating the cruiserweight division in his first 16 fights, and becoming undisputed cruiserweight champion, Alexander Usyk has taken the heavyweight division by storm. On Halloween Night in 2020, Usyk beat Derek Chisora by decision for the WBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight Title. After that, Usyk would go to England and Saudi Arabia, where he’d beat one of the biggest names in boxing twice in Anthony Joshua. In those two fights, Usyk collected the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles. In August of last year, Usyk would go to Warsaw, Poland and defend his belts in a 9th round KO victory over Daniel Debois. The last belt he needed for his collection was the WBC Heavyweight Title held by polarizing star Tyson Fury. Fury came in with his typical confidence and playful unorthodox style. Fury’s size is always an issue for opponents, and he once again used it to his advantage against Usyk. The size differential was substantial. He showboated throughout most of the fight before he was confronted with the reality that is the punching power of Usyk. Usyk landed a massive shot on Fury in the 9th, and the world saw the smiling confidence change to concern on Fury’s face.. Fury was rattled and for 30 seconds took on serious punishment. It was those 30 seconds that allowed Usyk to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999. 

Coming into the fight, there was talk that Usyk, a great technical boxer, might be too much for “the gypsy king” to handle. When the fight started however, it was Fury who looked to be getting the better of Usyk. Fury had a big size advantage as he usually does, but he chose not to fight this fight in almost a clinch position by laying his weight on his opponent. He attempted to create distance, and spent a fair amount of time on the ropes. I believe this gave Usyk the confidence to keep moving forward. By round 7, Usyk closed the distance on Fury. But the clean left in the 9th put Fury on rubbert legs, and Usyk attempted to knock him out. Fury would be saved by the bell, but he never really recovered. Usyk continued to pressure Fury, and completely flipped the narrative on the fight. Fury stayed adamant that he won the fight in the end, and the final decision had it close enough to potentially see a second fight. Two judges scored in favor of Usyk (115-112 & 114-113), while one judge thought Fury should have won, scoring it 114-113 in favor of Fury. This is the second weight class Usyk is the undisputed champion in. He did it prior in the cruiserweight division. The only other active fighters to achieve undisputed status in two weight classes are Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue.