Notebook: Usyk aims to uplift war-weary Ukrainians' spirit with Joshua rematch

Hrgovic, Zhang ready for undercard eliminator; Lomachenko date, opponent; Quick hits; Show and tell

Aug 18, 2022

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Soon after Oleksandr Usyk unanimously outpointed Anthony Joshua in an upset last September in Joshua’s hometown of London to take his unified heavyweight titles, Joshua exercised his right to an immediate rematch — but there has been nothing immediate about it.

After Russia invaded Usyk’s home country of Ukraine in late February and started a war that still persists, planning the rematch became much more complicated. That is because Usyk elected to delay it and joined a territorial defense battalion to assist in defending his homeland.

Boxing was the last thing on Usyk’s mind, so proposed dates in June and July also were not feasible.

“Every day I was there, I was praying and asking, ‘Please, God, don’t let anybody try to kill me,” Usyk said through an interpreter during the kickoff media tour that took place when the fight was announced in June. “Please don’t let anybody shoot me. And please don’t make me shoot any other person. I really didn’t want to leave our country. I didn’t want to leave our city.

“At one point I went to the hospital where soldiers were wounded and getting rehabilitation and they asked me to go to fight (Joshua), to fight for the country. They said if you go there, you’re going to help our country even more instead of fighting inside Ukraine.”

Finally, Usyk decided he would fight, convinced to return by the words from his wounded countrymen who wanted him to represent their wounded nation on a worldwide stage. And then it still took time for Matchroom Boxing to finalize a complicated site deal — one that likely approaches $100 million — that will see the much-anticipated fight take place on Saturday (DAZN, 1 p.m. ET with main event at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET) at King Abdullah Sports City Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In Joshua’s home country of the United Kingdom, the fight will air on Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view. It will air on free TV in Ukraine.

Once Usyk decided to return to give the rematch to two-time unified titlist Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs), 32, the 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist, he left Ukraine to train and to focus on the bout.

“When we watched Usyk’s videos from the training camp we realized that he looks like a cyborg,” said Alexander Krassyuk of K2 Promotions, Usyk’s promoter. “He went through hell in the training camp in the last three months. It did not kill him but it made him even stronger. I’ve never seen him more determined than now. Not many champions in the world can share their experience going through the war and making their way to the ring to defend their heavyweight crown. It was an extremely complicated challenge for him, but he seems to have passed it.”

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Although former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), a 35-year-old southpaw and the 2012 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist, made brief comments about the war and his decision to go forward with the fight during the press tour in June, he has been a man of few words since arriving in Saudi Arabia.

He has left it to Krassyuk to do much of the talking.

“He made his decision to take the rematch in these circumstances after he had received massive support from his Ukrainian compatriots,” Krassyuk said. “He was in touch with high-ranking military officers and he visited the hospitals with injured soldiers. In every conversation he heard words of blessing and support to take the rematch. People wanted him to fight. People still want him to win. People want the Ukrainian flag to rise. People want the Ukrainian anthem to be heard throughout the whole planet. Not many men in the world can deliver this to millions of people. Usyk is able to do that. He does that through the sport of boxing.

“It won’t sound fair from my mouth if I start to say how good this man is, since I’ve been his promoter for probably more than nine years. So, let the history judge how good this man is.”

Egis Klimas, Usyk’s manager, said Usyk pushed himself like never before in his training camp, knowing how much his countrymen have invested in him emotionally to retain the belts.

“I’ve never seen anybody in 45 degree (Celsius, 113 Fahrenheit) heat ride a bicycle for 100 kilometers,” Klimas said. “I’ve never seen anybody swimming the day before a press conference in London for 10 kilometers in the pool for five hours. I’ve never seen anybody hold their breath underwater for four minutes and 40 seconds, almost passing away. I hope all of this is going to be helping him on Saturday night.”

When asked earlier this week about the war in Ukraine and leaving to prepare for the fight, Usyk had little to say.

“I’m very pleased that I am going to fight very soon, and I feel happy about that,” Usyk said.

He did acknowledge it was difficult for him to focus at times.

“Yes,” he said, “but I did it.”

Hrgovic-Zhang at hand

While Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua will battle in a rematch for Usyk’s unified belts in the heavyweight title main event, contenders Filip Hrgovic and Zhang Zhilei will square off in the co-feature in an IBF title eliminator that will position the winner as a mandatory challenger for the main event victor.

It is by far the most significant pro fight for both men, each of whom own Olympic medals.

“It’s great to be a part of this huge event,” Hrgovic said at the fight week news conference on Wednesday. “I’ve been waiting for this fight for almost two years. We’ve been through a whole list where a lot of fighters didn’t want to fight with me, and I’m glad we’ve found someone who wants it. Thanks to Zhang and his team.”

Zhang accepted the eliminator after several others ahead of him in the IBF rankings turned down a fight with Hrgovic or were unavailable, including Luis Ortiz, Joseph Parker, Tony Yoka, Joe Joyce, Agit Kabayel, Andy Ruiz Jr., Murat Gassiev and Demsey McKean.

They were supposed to fight May 7 on the Canelo Alvarez-Dmitry Bivol undercard in Las Vegas but it was postponed when Hrgovic withdrew due to the death of his father in the weeks before the bout.

Now Hrgovic (14-0, 12 KOs), 30, of Croatia, is in the right frame of mind for a make-or-break fight and he is confident.

“We are both big guys, we are both big punchers,” Hrgovic said. “The thing is that he’s dangerous over a few rounds, whereas I am dangerous over the whole fight. I’m dangerous for 12 rounds. That is the difference.”

When Hrgovic postponed the bout in May, Zhang (24-0-1, 19 KOs), 39, a southpaw from China, fought a late replacement opponent in journeyman Scott Alexander and knocked him out in the first round. Now he hopes to lock up a title shot.

“This fight is important. It's an IBF eliminator,” Zhang said. “Winning this fight would mean I could directly step up to face the winner of Usyk versus Joshua. It means a lot in China and for the sport of boxing in China. I will promote the sport of boxing in China for all of my people. For my last fight 16 million people in China tuned in to watch. I believe we will make more history this time. I'm fighting for my country. On Saturday everybody is going to witness Chinese power again.”

Loma to face Ortiz

Three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, the former pound-for-pound king, who arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday to begin his training camp, will face Jumaine Ortiz in a 12-round lightweight fight on Oct. 22, multiple sources told Fight Freaks Unite.

The location of the fight is not set as Top Rank works to finalize a site deal.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs), a 34-year-old southpaw from Ukraine, has spent the last several months serving in a territorial defense battalion as his country fights off the invasion from neighboring Russia. He was slated to challenge then-unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. in his home country of Australia in June but bowed out in mid-March before the fight was formally announced in order to remain in Ukraine defending his country.

Last month, Lomachenko told Top Rank that he decided to return to boxing and would be ready for a fall fight.

If Lomachenko beats Ortiz and undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney, who replaced Lomachenko and beat Kambosos in June to unify the division, beats him again in an Oct. 15 rematch, Haney-Lomachenko is in the cards for next spring.

Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs), 26, of Worcester, Massachusetts, is coming off the biggest win of his career, a 10-round unanimous decision over former junior lightweight titlist Jamel Herring on May 21 that sent Herring into retirement. Top Rank had options on Ortiz and worked with his promoter, Jimmy Burchfield, to make the fight with Lomachenko.

Boxing art exhibition

Click photo to see The Wegerich Fine Art Collection

If you like boxing and art, this is for you.

Art collector Ingo Wegerich, who has pieced together The Wegerich Fine Art Collection, which includes dozens of original boxing artworks — many of which were the basis for famous covers of The Ring magazine over the decades — is hosting a one of a kind exhibition at which many of the pieces will be publicly displayed for the first time. It takes place on Sept. 22 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Airport Club Frankfurt in Frankfurt, Germany.

The business club is for members only but the exhibition is open and free to everybody.

The pieces that will be displayed run the gamut from an original painting of Max Schmeling from 1936 that was used as a cover for The Ring (which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year) to more modern paintings by famed artist Richard T. Slone, such as his “Dream Fight” work depicting what a Tyson Fury-Mike Tyson bout might look like (see photo above). It also adorned a Ring cover.

Several Slone pieces that are part of the collection will be displayed and Slone will be on hand as will German women’s boxing legend Regina Halmich, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June. She will answer some questions and take photos.

To see the collection or to sign up to attend go here: https://wegerich-fineart.com/en/2022/08/09/exhibition-boxing-in-art/

Quick hits

Top Rank is finalizing a featherweight fight between two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (10-1, 6 KOs), 28, and former junior featherweight titlist and fellow southpaw Jessie Magdaleno (29-1, 18 KOs), 30, of Las Vegas. It is due to take place as the co-feature on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Jamaine Ortiz card slated for Oct. 22 at a site to be determined. Ramirez is coming off his most notable pro win, a fifth-round knockout of Abraham Nova on June 18. Magdaleno ended a two-year layoff on May 21 with an eight-round decision win against Edy Valencia.

Top Rank is making plans for a doubleheader that will feature the return of Oscar Valdez and the Top Rank debut of newly signed women’s strawweight titlist Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada. Top Rank is still working on its fall calendar so the date is not set, but October or November is likely. Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs), 31, of Mexico, will be fighting for the first time since getting knocked down and losing a lopsided decision to Shakur Stevenson on April 30 in a 130-pound unification fight in Las Vegas. Estrada (22-0, 9 KOs), 30, of Los Angeles, became a free agent when her deal with Golden Boy was up and she signed with Top Rank in late July.

On Wednesday, Queensberry Promotions announced the remainder of the undercard of the Joe Joyce-Joseph Parker heavyweight fight scheduled for Sept. 24 (ESPN+ in U.S., BT Sport Box Office in U.K.) at AO Arena in Manchester, England. In addition to the Amanda Serrano-Sarah Mahfoud women’s featherweight unification fight announced on Tuesday, other bouts added include junior lightweight Antnony Cacace (19-1, 7 KOs) versus Michael Magnesi (21-0, 13 KOs); Ekow Essuman (17-0, 7 KOs) defending the British and Commonwealth welterweight titles against Samuel Antwi (14-1, 6 KOs) and middleweight Nathan Heaney (15-0, 6 KOs) against Jack Flatley (19-2, 4 KOs).

Show and tell

Sugar Ray Robinson is widely regarded as the all-time pound-for-pound king but No. 2 to many is the great Henry Armstrong, who lost the welterweight world title to fellow Hall of Famer Fritzie Zivic in the main event of the card on which Robinson turned pro in 1940. Armstrong, who beat numerous Hall of Famers during a 1931 to 1945 career in which he was 151-21-9 with 101 knockouts (or 149-21-10 with 99 KOs depending on which reference material you go by), would never hold a world title again. But he had huge accomplishments way before losing that fight to Zivic. Armstrong won the world title at featherweight, lightweight and welterweight — beating Hall of Famers in all three bouts — and is the only fighter in history to hold titles in three divisions at the same time. And he did it in an era in which there were only eight weight classes and one world title per division.

Armstrong, who would make a record 19 welterweight title defenses, knocked out Peter Sarron in the sixth round to win the featherweight title in 1937, outpointed Barney Ross via 15-round decision to win the welterweight title in 1938 and then won a 15-round split decision over Lou Ambers later in 1938 to win the lightweight title. The historic victory over Ambers to give Armstrong championships in three divisions simultaneously took place on Aug. 17, 1938 — 84 years ago on Wednesday. Here is a mint Armstrong rookie card from the 1938 F.C. Cartledge Famous Prize Fighters set (which was distributed with the sale of the company’s razor blades in England) in my boxing collection.

Usyk and Hrgovic photos: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Lomachenko photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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