The heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk began his professional career in 2013 and remains undefeated as 2025 begins.
The Ukranian fighter has dispatched fighters such as Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Daniel Dubois, and is not showing signs of hanging up his gloves. Considered a modern great, even Evander Holyfield ranked Usyk highly against other heavyweight boxers in history.
The Ukranian’s last outing would see Usyk defeat Fury via decision for the second time, and extend his undefeated record to 23-0.
Currently not scheduled to fight, there is no indication as to who Usyk may face in his next bout. However, Usyk’s life could have been much different if he had listened to a previous coach.
Oleksandr Usyk’s trainer told him not to return to boxing training
Speaking to Ring Magazine, Usyk reflected on his roots that brought him into the world of boxing. The Ukrainian explained that his father would wake him up in the early hours of the morning to watch the sport as he had an interest in boxing.
In terms of starting his fighting career, Usyk said that boxing was his only option for sport, as his family couldn’t afford football training. He explained that boxing was a more cost-effective pastime, which is what led him into the sport.
Recalling his first training session in a boxing gym, Usyk was surprised by what the trainer said to him after the session.
Going to what was a new gym at the age of 15, Usyk said that he wasn’t nervous about starting the sport and that he felt boxing would make him strong.
However, Usyk explained he was the recipient of a couple of strong punches in the session, including suffering a bloodied nose.
When the training was over, Usyk asked his coach when the next session was. The Ukranian said the coach told him the next training was tomorrow, but that the trainer implied Usyk wouldn’t be coming back to the gym.
Going home wondering why his coach did not welcome him back to training, he thought, “Maybe it’s because I took punches to the face. Maybe I am [a] bad boxer.”
Regardless of the comments, Usyk returned to training. After attending sessions for a couple of weeks, Usyk said that the coach changed his tone about him, telling him to come to training every day.
Oleksandr Usyk begged his boxing coach to stop training session
In his first boxing gym, Usyk recalled a story to Ring Magazine of how he begged his coach to stop a training session due to the pain that he was in.
A couple of weeks into training at the gym, Usyk was paired against the same sparring partner he faced on his very first day.
Usyk said they were sparring for between 45 minutes to two hours, and that he had to ask his coach to stop the session due to the punishment he was receiving. “Coach, please stop!”
Telling the story, Usyk explained that he was repeatedly getting struck to the body, causing him significant discomfort.
The Ukrainian even said that he asked his sparring partner to punch him in the face to knock him down or out, to end the session.
The interviewer then asked Usyk if that was the worst he ever felt in the ring, to which the champion replied, “Yes.”