There was a time when all
Oleksandr Usyk thought about was winning belts and securing his legacy but now those boxes have been ticked he admits he has found himself picturing retirement.
After competing in 350 bouts as an amateur and now 23-0, 14 KOs as a professional, the 38-year-old is very much in the final chapter of his illustrious career.
He has been the undisputed champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight during his 12 years as a pro but there is still time for the Ukrainian icon to do it again before he hangs them up.
The Ring Magazine champion, who also holds the WBA, WBO and WBC belts, will
put them all on the line against IBF champion Daniel Dubois in the first ever four-belt heavyweight unification on British soil when they meet at Wembley Stadium on July 19.
It will also be a rematch of their August 2023 fight in Wroclaw, Poland when Usyk won via ninth round stoppage to retain his title.
But he knows his days in the spotlight are now numbered and while he has still trained at full throttle during his camp in Spain, Usyk has been thinking about life after boxing.
He told
The Ring: “I don’t think about retirement much but I do think about it sometimes. I cannot say now how many fights I’ve got left.
“Right now, my dream continues but I’m very grateful for my family and my team who are with me… But I still want to fight at the Olympic stadium in Kyiv. Now I have no idea who that would be against.”
Should he secure a fight there, it would be the latest in a long line of stadium visits, all of which have resulted in victory.
He became world heavyweight champion with a unanimous decision win over
Anthony Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium while that first victory over
Dubois came at Stadion Wroclaw.
July 19 will be his first fight at Wembley Stadium, although he did beat Derek Chisora across the road at Wembley Arena in 2020.
“When I was young or at the start of my career I used to dream about boxing in a big stadium like Wembley or Tottenham,” he added.
“Now it’s real. I boxed in a big stadium against Anthony Joshua and it was great, a big fight.
“But I don’t visualise the fight now. My focus is just training, my rest. I’m not visualising the fight because when I go to London, when I step in the ring, OK I’ll start. Now there’s no need for it.”
His victory over Dubois was steeped in controversy as he was dropped heavily in the fifth round by a shot which referee Luis Pabon deemed to be low. But Dubois and his promoter Frank Warren maintain it was a legal punch and even printed out pictures of the shot which appeared to show it landing legally on the belt line. The images were then handed out at the press conference to formally announce the rematch.
Usyk laughs when the subject is brought up. “It doesn’t frustrate me because I think it’s rubbish,” he said. “It’s trash talk, it’s rubbish.
“For me it doesn’t matter because I know it was a dirty punch - now for me it’s in the past. I live today in the present.”