Oleksandr Usyk is the sporting hero we all need

It has almost become a feature of the English sporting calendar, like the Epsom Derby and the FA Cup final, to watch a local heavyweight lose to Oleksandr Usyk in a packed football stadium or on prime-time television. Five Englishmen, on eight separate occasions, have tried and failed across two different weight divisions to beat the Ukrainian champion. None has succeeded. When Daniel Dubois was knocked out in the fifth round on Saturday night, before a sold-out crowd of 90,000 people at Wembley Stadium, it seemed like a sporting affirmation of Einstein’s definition of stupidity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Before Saturday night’s fight, however, there were rising hopes that Dubois could succeed (on his second attempt), where Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Tony Bellew and Derek Chisora had all failed. South Londoner Dubois, now aged 27, was supposedly a different fighter to the inexperienced heavyweight who had lost to Usyk in Poland in 2023. Since then, he had not only rattled off three impressive victories – none more so than his knockout of Joshua last year – he also had age, weight and height comprehensively in his favour.

The one thing not in Dubois’s favour, however, was the only thing that mattered – namely, skill. Just as in the first fight, Dubois was sent to the canvas by an odd-looking punch that appeared not to have much power behind it at all. He staggered to his feet but, moments later, he was on the canvas again, this time courtesy of Usyk’s left hook. The referee waved the fight off almost immediately.

It is a credit to Usyk that so many Brits wanted him to succeed, even over Dubois, the great local hope. Indeed, Usyk – who describes the UK as a ‘second home’ – is treated like an adopted son by the media here. This is not just thanks to his skill – confirmed when he swept through the cruiserweight division – or his status as an all-time great, sealed by his two victories over Fury. In an era when sporting heroes tend to be irritatingly vain, or even insufferably woke, Usyk stands out for his manners, integrity and authenticity. It is hardly surprising that boxing fans, desperate for an antidote to the self-aggrandisement and virtue-signalling that dominates sport today, could find in Usyk someone genuinely inspiring and admirable.

Many boxers grow up in difficult circumstances, but the poverty of Usyk’s early life is almost unimaginable to most of us. He grew up in the city of Simferopol, then part of the Soviet Union and now occupied by Russia. The collapse of the Soviet Union drove his family into deeper hardship. Usyk was unable to pursue his goal of professional football because his parents could not even afford to buy him boots. The only outlet for his prodigious athletic gifts was the free training offered at his local boxing gym.

From his fight with former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew at Manchester Arena in 2018, his first title fight against a Brit, Usyk’s stock has only ever risen in the UK. All the while, he has never degraded his opponents or boasted about his own abilities. In his words, ‘that’s not how a man behaves’. The best of his personality shone through in his two fights with Fury, both of which Usyk won on points. In their first title fight in May 2024, Usyk appeared to deliberately hold back against Fury, when he looked to all observers to be incapable of defending himself in the ninth round. ‘There [was] no need to hurt him’, Usyk said after the fight. ‘I know the game of boxing. After the fight, he would go back to his family.’

Usyk’s stature grew further after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. While he was in the UK when the war broke out, he travelled immediately to the front line to join a local battalion. A picture of him casually brandishing an assault rifle became one of the most potent images of the early stages of the war. He only returned to professional boxing when he was persuaded by enough soldiers that he could do more for Ukraine’s morale by remaining in the ring rather than serving on the battlefield.

Usyk has been immune from the shallowness of celebrity culture that most sports stars cringingly embrace. His only motivation to continue fighting, as he often reiterates in the media, is to provide a more comfortable life for his mother, wife and four young children.

Through his skill and sportsmanship, Usyk has endeared himself to the British public in what can often be a fiercely parochial sport. But the joy he has brought to boxing fans in the UK wouldn’t lay a glove on the pride he has inspired in his homeland. In Usyk, Ukraine has the sporting hero it deserves.

Hugo Timms is an editorial assistant at spiked.