Oleksandr Usyk is a special person, and that assessment has nothing to do with the fact he's also one of the greatest boxers who ever set foot into a ring. This is a guy who on Saturday added the undisputed heavyweight championship when he defeated Tyson Fury by split decision at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to an undisputed cruiserweight championship and an Olympic gold medal at heavyweight in 2012.
Usyk showed up at the post-fight news conference after being checked for a broken jaw with the stuffed animal, Eeyore. He bought it in 2022 for his daughter when they visited Disneyland in Paris. When Russia invaded Usyk's Ukraine, Usyk voluntarily reported to serve the national defense in the military. His daughter gave him Eeyore, which he brings with him everywhere. He clutched it in his arms when he arrived at Kingdom Arena and he brought it with him to the podium when he finally made it to the news conference after his victory.
He's a spiritual, God-fearing man who loves his family, has a great sense of humor and happens to be an incredible talent with gloves on his fists.
He's a skilled boxer, but it was his grit, his toughness and his perseverance which were most responsible Saturday for the greatest victory of his professional life.
He signed to face Fury in September for a Dec. 23 fight, but when Fury wobbled to an uninspiring victory over Francis Ngannou on Oct. 28, the bout was pushed back to Feb. 17. Fury then suffered a massive cut during training that pushed the fight three months further back, to Saturday in Riyadh. All the while, Usyk stayed in camp and worked, pushed his body, and dutifully drilled the techniques that Coach Yuri Tkachenko felt he needed to work on to defeat the massive Fury.
When the topic of the rematch was brought up early in Usyk's comments to the media, the personal side of him took over. He gave up some of the most significant moments in his life, including the birth of a child and birthdays of two other children, to stay in camp and work. It was nearly a nine-month camp and Usyk gave everything he had in the quest to win the championship.
So, he didn't want to hear what Fury wanted to do next or when they may fight again. What he wanted more than anything was to see his wife and children.
"Nine months, I worked," Usyk said in halting English, aided by promoter Alex Krassyuk. "I missed Happy New Year. I missed birthday [of] my son. I missed birthday of [my other] son, too. I missed the birthday of my daughter. I missed [the birth] of my daughter. I missed all of my family holidays. All the time, I was training, training, training. My focus was only this fight.
"Now, I'm happy. I want to [go] back home, go to my church and pray. I want to say, 'Jesus, thank you,' because for me and my country, it was a big opportunity."
He was hilarious as he described Tkachenko and others on his team urging him to work.
"Eight months, all he did was talk," Usyk said of Tkachenko. " 'Do this. Do this. Do this. Work. Run. Boxing. Eat. Sleep. Blah, blah, blah, blah.' Listen, I'm not a child."
He then beamed, because it's what he does.
He really never spent much time discussing the fight. He described telling his father not to visit him in training camp in Spain because of the distance between them and the difficulty of the travel. He fought back tears as he said he told his father he loved him. And he then read a prayer that he wrote before the fight which says as much about him as anything.
Usyk spoke in Russian, with Krassyuk interpreting, because he wanted to get it right.
"I was writing about gratitude to the Lord," Usyk said. "I'm thankful that you're here and I'm thankful you've given me the opportunity. I know you are leading me in a way that you consider better for me. And if you think I deserve this, please grant me this victory. I am not the principal. You are the principal and this all is for you and your glory."
That is how a champion speaks.
And he'd have been a champion no matter the decision that three judges rendered in what in the big picture is a meaningless boxing match.
The guy is a winner, in all walks of life.