Mike CoppingerESPN
Alexander Usik was preparing for a rematch against Anthony Joshua, but with his country at war with Russia, Ukraine’s heavyweight boxing champion is focused on far more important issues.
So for now, the long-awaited match is postponed.
“We don’t want the rematch obligation to be dropped,” Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, who is promoting Usik’s last four fights and will promote the rematch with Joshua, told ESPN. “So we will wait as long as Alexander Usik needs at this difficult time for him.
The 35-year-old returned to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv last week and later joined a territorial defense battalion. Usik dominated Joshua by unanimous decision in September to win the combined heavyweight championship and now owes the Englishman a rematch.
Joshua, an Olympic gold medalist, has exercised his rematch clause, which guarantees the 32-year-old a new match against Usik on agreed financial terms. Usik-Joshua 2 was planned for May or June, but as Ukraine is defending itself from Russian invasion, it is unclear when the battle will take place.
“I really don’t know when I’m going to step out of the ring,” Usik (19-0, 13 KO) told CNN on Wednesday in comments translated into English. “My country and my honor are more important to me than the championship belt.”
Usik, who has three children, is obviously worried about what lies ahead, but he is also clearly committed.
“I don’t want to shoot,” he said. “I do not want to kill anyone, but if they kill me, I will have no choice.
Hearn also told ESPN that he could book an intermediate match for Joshua if there is an extended delay.
“It’s a very unique, personal, emotional situation, and I don’t think we can really understand what’s going on there and what’s going through the minds of the people involved,” said Hearn, who rewrote Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) to multi-year deal in september. “So for us, of course, great respect for Alexander Usik.
“We do not want the obligation for revenge to be dropped, so we will wait as long as Alexander Usik needs at this difficult time for him.
Usik’s longtime friend, another Olympic gold medalist, Vasily Lomachenko, has also joined a defensive battalion, calling into question a potential match on June 5 in Australia with lightweight champion George Cambosos. Hall of Fame boxer Vitali Klitschko, who is mayor of Kyiv, also took up arms, as did his brother, former heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko.
Usik said that “the bombing around is crazy”, but “there is no fear … just bewilderment. How can this be in the 21st century?”
“When there is an air strike alarm, we hide,” he added. “[Boxing] it helped me to be calm and mentally prepared. And it helps me help others who are panicked and nervous. “