On August 20, in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), the unified heavyweight champion Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) will have a rematch with the previous owner of these belts, Briton Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs). The first fight between them took place in September last year in London (England) – Usyk won by decision of the judges.
On the eve of revenge
Ukrainian spoke a lot about the sore point – the criminal invasion of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine, the genocide against the civilian population: “My children ask me why the Russians want to kill us? And to be honest, I don’t know how to answer this question. How has the war affected me? It’s hard to explain… Sometimes I force myself to smile, I force myself to sing songs. I didn’t want to leave the city, I didn’t want to leave the country at this time. But when I came to the hospital to visit our wounded soldiers, they told me that I should do it. They said that I should box not only for myself, for my pride, but for the whole of Ukraine. They said that was how I would be most useful.”
Usyk does not hide the fact that the upcoming battle is, first of all, a tribute to the Ukrainian soldiers: “I want to give them at least a little happiness and joy. Especially those on the front lines. And immediately after the victory I will return to Ukraine, I will return to Kyiv. I have to be there during this difficult time. How do Russians justify the bloody war they unleashed? I dont know. I don’t believe a single word they say. Solid propaganda on TV. They show how their artillery works on the positions of our soldiers, but they do not show how they destroy residential buildings, entire neighborhoods, shopping centers with hundreds of people inside.
The other day it became known that Klitschko told Joshua how to help Ukraine. Meanwhile, Usyk called on the world community to support his compatriots, because “in 4 days over 100 missiles were fired at my country.”
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