The holder of three major heavyweight titles (over 90.7 kg), Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) gave
interview for my YouTube channel USYK17.
Alexander, who is currently preparing for the fight for the title of absolute heavyweight champion against the WBC champion Briton Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs), spoke about his preferences in boxing, football and life in a blitz poll. He told about the first gloves, a car, a salary, a fight and much, much more.
– Without training or with the Russian Federation?
– No training.
– Without belts or with the Russian Federation?
– No belts.
– Without fights or with the Russian Federation?
– No fights.
– With Fury or with the Russian Federation?
— [смеётся] with Fury, of course.
Usyk got naked, took a selfie and calls Fury: “Where are you, Mamon?”
– What is your favorite city?
— In the world or in Ukraine?
– Generally.
– Kyiv.
– Favourite dish?
— Usually boiled pasta.
– What is your favorite boxer?
– I will answer conceitedly – this is Alexander Alexandrovich Usik. But my favorite boxer is Muhammad Ali.
– What is your favorite football player?
– A Ukrainian footballer, I think that this is Andriy Nikolaevich Shevchenko, and from the world … I once very, very long time ago, when I was a boy and followed football, I really liked Batistuta. I really liked Rooney, the way he played, English football. Many, many good guys that I like, but I will say that it will be Batistuta.
What is your favorite boxing match?
– There are a lot of cool boxing fights and you can’t say that it’s some kind of favorite. I have some fights that I have watched several times. Of my own, I watched the first fight with Anthony Joshua 7-8 times. I watched the second fight five times. I watched more than 10 times the first championship fight between Evander Holyfield and Kavi. 15 round bout, Holyfield’s first title fight. This is an incredible “fight” is simple. It can be called a favorite, I think.
— OK, what is your favorite fight?
– This is the final of the 2012 Olympic Games with Clemento Russo.
– Favorite song?
– I now travel very often and listen to the song: “We will soon go to Kherson. And then after him, I promise you, this will be our Crimea. And he will no longer stand on the sidelines, he will bloom like a vine in the sun” . And so, I’ll tell you that my favorite song is the one under which I go to fights – “Brother”.
- Usyk congratulated the New Year “from the Crimea” – video
– Favorite movie?
— Gladiator.
– Favorite book?
– Paulo Coelho “The Fifth Mountain”.
– Favorite animal?
– Dog. But I really like horses. When I lived in the village, I spent a lot of time on a horse farm. He helped his uncle feed them, travel and communicate. Incredibly cool animals that understand humans. They understand the person very well. If a person is negative, then the horse feels it, and it is more likely that he will show this with his behavior.
– Win by knockout or decision?
– Yes, I think it’s better by knockout.
— Motivation or discipline?
— Discipline.
— Usyk Sportswear or Louis Vuitton?
— Usyk Sportswear.
– Film or book?
– Book.
— Crimea or Dubai?
— [задумался] [улыбнулся] Kyiv.
– Olympic gold or double absolute, what is more important for you?
– At the moment – this is a double absolute.
- Olympic medalist dreams of sparring with Usyk
– Play for the Ukrainian national football team or a role in a film with a cool actor?
– Play for the Ukrainian national football team.
– What is more difficult: boxing or watching a friend box, for example, Berinchyk, Lomachenko?
It’s harder for me to look at my brothers. I’ll explain why. Because I’m more worried about them, because I can’t control what they do in the ring. And they can control it. That is, when I box, I am calm, and my brothers are a little nervous. The same situation, because they cannot control what happens in the ring. I worry more when my brothers box.
– Is it more difficult to force yourself to go to training or the training itself?
“Sometimes it’s harder to force yourself to pack up and go for it, and not when you’re already there.
– Run 10 km or swim five?
– Run ten.
— The first boxing gloves?
I bought my first boxing gloves myself. Somewhere for 50 with something hryvnia. And the first combat gloves that I earned… because I went to a competition and the club gave me a helmet, gloves… It was 2003 or 2004. It was Kharkov and Andreev’s cadet tournament. I was third there. I arrived and they gave me black Rival gloves. It was an incredible top. I brought them home and even the neighbors came to me, my Kents.
– The first meeting or acquaintance with the future wife?
– The first time I saw her in the office where they studied. We went to the same school and she went out with her friend. Now she is our godfather, our daughter baptized ours. And then I saw her for the first time, and we talked in the same company, made friends, saw each other. When I first saw her, I had a plan to win this candy.
— The first fight in the street?
“I think they were even earlier. Maybe I don’t remember. I remember when I was at school it was a regular thing. I remember it was the summer before first grade. My comrade and I were playing something, somewhere we got hooked, we bounced, but on the same day we fraternized back.
— The first car?
– Such a straight wow – it was a 2011 Skoda Octavia A5. When I won the World Championship, the President of the Kryvyi Rih Boxing Federation Vladislav Alexandrovich Binder presented it to me. But he gave it to me even before I became the world champion. He’s like: “I understand that you are a motivated guy, but I want to motivate you even more. And this is the gift we want to give for the World Cup.” I say: “So I haven’t won it yet.” And he says: “Duck, in 2 weeks you will win.” And so I had a VAZ 2106, a Moskvidon 412, and so it was, the 11th, 12th, that is, we drove a little Zhiguli there. “Niva” even somehow was.
— Your first salary?
– My first paycheck. Officially, my first salary is 37 or 39 hryvnias. This is when I worked on a farm in the village, helped collect hay, graze cows, I earned. I was 11 or 12 years old. I was paid 39 hryvnias.
Source: https://vringe.com/news/161772-bez-poyasov-no-ne-s-rf-bolshoy-blits-opros-usika.htm?rand=141343
