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On Monday afternoon, in central London, Oleksandr Usyk looked resplendent on an open-topped black bus as he prepared to send loaded messages to Daniel Dubois, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. High in the air he held three fingers on his right hand to signify his intention to become a three-time undisputed world champion. It was a typical sporting gesture and underlined his determination to defeat Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night and follow his earlier achievements in winning all the belts as a cruiserweight and then, last year, becoming the first boxer to unify the world heavyweight division this century.
Usyk remains the WBA, WBC and WBO champion but boxing politics forced him to vacate his IBF title soon after he beat Tyson Fury in their magnificent first world title unification fight 14 months ago in Riyadh. He looks ready now for the dangerous challenge of Dubois, the new IBF champion, but Usyk’s arrival in London was a timely reminder of the far more significant role he plays in Ukraine.
Rather than just being a cherished world champion boxer, Usyk carries the gravitas of a Ukrainian statesman. And so, before the brutal yet simple fisticuffs which will break out in front of 90,000 people at Wembley, Usyk began fight week with two highly symbolic political gestures. In Trafalgar Square he unveiled a replica of a mosaic which had been created by the Ukrainian artist Alla Horska in Mariupol in 1967. The original mosaic had been bombed during Russia’s relentless onslaught soon after the outbreak of war in February 2022.
“Russia destroyed so much in my country,” Usyk told the small crowd that gathered around him. “Russia destroyed hospitals. Russia destroyed schools. Russia destroyed Ukrainian lives. But we will survive. We will rebuild our country, like a mosaic, piece by piece.”
Richard Branson stood next to him as the boxer confirmed that the British businessman had become the first donor to help the Usyk Foundation to raise £2.5m to build new apartments for 64 displaced families in Ukraine. They then made the short walk to Pall Mall and the statue of Florence Nightingale, which is also a memorial to the 19th-century Crimean War. The British nurse had been revered as “the Lady with the Lamp” as she tended to wounded Crimean soldiers.
On Monday the Nightingale statue added a prosthetic limb, painted in the blue and yellow of Ukraine. There was no talk of war in the ring, or the fractured boxing landscape, as Usyk and Branson pledged to help the 80,000 Ukrainians who now need a prosthetic limb to replace an arm or leg lost to Russian bombs.
Usyk comes from Simferopol, the Crimean city annexed by Russia in 2014, and it was easy to remember his direct response in an interview with the BBC last month. “Hey, listen, Putin wants four of my territories,” Usyk said as he looked directly into the camera. “You crazy? It’s Ukrainian territory. It’s not your territory. Listen, guys, please, open eyes, it’s our people. Ukrainian soldiers are in captivity now in Russia. Listen, it’s bad conditions in Ukraine for three-and-a-half years.”
In that same interview Usyk had been asked what message he would give those trying to negotiate a ceasefire. “I advise the American President, Donald Trump, to go to Ukraine and live in my house. Only one week. I will give him my house. Live please in Ukraine and watch what is going on every night. Every night there are bombs and flights above my house. Bombs, rockets. Every night. It’s enough.”
Usyk also said: “Ukrainian people are dying. It’s not [just] military guys, but children, women, grandmothers, grandfathers. For me it’s hard. It’s my country. I worry about what happens in my country.”
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His focus for the rest of this week will return to Dubois. Usyk defeated his 27-year-old British opponent when they fought for the first time almost two years ago in Wroclaw, the Polish city close to the Ukrainian border. Dubois hurt him with a body punch which was declared, amid great controversy, as a low blow in the fifth round. Usyk was on the canvas for four minutes before he rose to his feet and prevailed in the ninth when he pummelled Dubois into submission.
But he is 38 now and Usyk endured two gruelling 12-round battles against Fury last year. They were the kind of fights which take chunks out of men – even Usyk who won both by narrow margins. He also knows that Dubois has improved considerably since their first bout and gained in confidence as a world champion – who crushed Anthony Joshua last September in a way that Usyk had not been able to match in his two hard fights with the older British heavyweight. “Daniel is a good athlete and has good skills,” Usyk said. “In his [past] three fights, he had great wins [against] Filip Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller and Anthony Joshua. I think he’s a great fighter.”
He also suggested: “Daniel is a little bit afraid. I am too, but my afraid is different.”
Usyk’s real fear is of further carnage and death in Ukraine which is why, even during his final preparations for Saturday night’s latest test in the Wembley ring, he has had Putin, Trump and Florence Nightingale on his mind. His most important task, as a symbol of defiance and hope in Ukraine, seems as endless as it is vast.
