Oleksandr Usyk is not thinking about his future and his place in boxing history. “I’m just Alex, the Ukrainian guy,” he insisted when I spoke to him after midnight at Wembley Stadium. He finally looked tired when he retreated to his dressing room, where religious icons covered the walls and surfaces. “I go home now and spend time with my family and children,” he added. That was all he said about tomorrow’s fights.
An hour earlier, his fists had ruined Daniel Dubois in the fifth round, dropping the British boxer twice before the towel came in; the referee, Michael Griffin, called it off at the same time. Dubois was nearly up but out of his head, and he stood in silence for several minutes trying to process what went wrong. He looked stunned.
The bare stats from a night of raw and savage drama are simple; Usyk retained his WBO, WBA and WBC titles, added the IBF version, and left the ring in glory in front of 90,000 fanatics at Wembley.
There is never any boasting or bragging with Usyk, but he was strangely cold in the ring at the end against Dubois. It looked to me like he ignored him. His lack of sympathy for Dubois was noticeable when the fight was over. Usyk had been ruthless and that part of his brilliance is often overlooked.
When asked about Dubois, there was very little from Usyk. “It’s a sport,” he said with a shrug. The code normally demands praise in defeat, but Usyk was vicious on Saturday – not cruel, just honest.
Dubois promised to be back and praised Usyk, but his path to a new world title, even at 27, is going to be hard. In modern heavyweight boxing, there are no simple routes to the title. Dubois went down twice, but his resistance had vanished in the seconds before the first knockdown, and Usyk sensed that Dubois had nothing left. The second knockdown was much heavier. Dubois missed the count, but the towel had landed; his future will now have to be expertly plotted once again by Frank Warren, his promoter.
Usyk’s future is far from simple. He wants to fight again and would love to fight in his homeland. He has not yet fought there in 24 fights. It is just one of the bold plans, just one of the logistical problems that Usyk and his team must solve. The main concern will be satisfying the requests and demands of the four leading sanctioning bodies, all of whom have one or two men in pole position for a shot at the undisputed champion.
Last year, when Usyk beat Tyson Fury to win all four belts and become the undisputed champion, he lost the IBF version outside of the ring; Dubois won it, and on Saturday night, Usyk claimed it back. It is messy, and it will get messier in the months ahead.
Right now, the WBO have the first claim on Usyk’s services and their No 1 is New Zealand’s Joseph Parker. The IBF has the fourth claim, and the WBA and WBC have the two middle slots.
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It will be difficult for Usyk to satisfy all four sanctioning bodies, and that is where the trading will start. Parker will, correctly, demand his shot at the title, which is long overdue. Meanwhile, the WBA, WBC and IBF will all want assurances that their men get a chance. To be honest, it’s an impossible job.
And, just to confuse the issue further, Anthony Joshua and Fury are the leading names for an Usyk fight. Usyk has beaten the pair twice, but a third fight with either would still do overwhelming business. Joshua and Fury will not be nominated by any of the sanctioning bodies, but the bank, as they say, will make negotiations easier.
Fury was busy all week issuing challenges and making claims; Joshua has kept a dignified silence. “It’s my turn now,” said Parker, at ringside. But as Don King famously declared: “In boxing, you get what you negotiate, not what you deserve.”
The IBF will possibly push for Derek “Del Boy” Chisora, who is their No 2 – their number one slot is vacant. Usyk has already beaten Chisora. The WBC has an interim champion in Agit Kabayel, a quality fighter. However, Usyk might be looking for a bigger name. The WBA could push for their interim champion, Fabio Wardley, and that would be hugely entertaining.
At present, Warren represents in some way all four of the men waiting for their chance. He also handles Fury. It is, as I said, a complicated mess and requires some artful dealing. Let us not forget that Usyk faced off with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in the Wembley ring on Saturday night, amid fanciful talk of an MMA bout.
Usyk would start as a heavyweight favourite against all of his contenders right now. He has slowly taken care of business in the ring and, by only fighting once each year in six of the last seven years, has massively protected his health. “It is just start at 38,” he declared. He might not have been joking.
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