MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Oleksandr Usyk wants to make some “noise” before he calls time on a career that has made him the most dominant heavyweight boxer of his generation.
That goes some way to explaining this month's showdown with a champion kickboxer in Egypt on May 23. Just don't expect to see him in the ring with YouTube star Jake Paul anytime soon.
“I don't know because Jake (is) my friend now,” Usyk told The Associated Press when discussing
the potential of following Anthony Joshua and taking on the influencer-turned-prizefighter. “With Jake (a) fight is not possible, I think.”
Not that Usyk — the unified heavyweight world champion — is dismissive of the growing trend for boxers to take on ever more unusual and lucrative fights against opponents from different sports or different worlds entirely.
Jake and his brother Logan Paul found fame as YouTubers with millions of followers on the video-streaming platform and have gone on to fight legendary boxers Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather also fought UFC champion Conor McGregor and kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa.
In December, Jake Paul took on his most audacious challenge yet when he was knocked out by Joshua, the former two-time heavyweight champion.
The fight demanded attention around the world because, unlike Tyson and Mayweather, Joshua is 36 and still competing at the top of the sport for the biggest titles. Jake Paul was knocked out in six rounds and said his jaw was broken in two places.
Usyk says he understands the appeal of such fights, even if they are criticized by some boxing purists.
"It’s a media fight aimed at drawing even more people into professional boxing and combat sports in general. You know how it was when we were kids watching movies. ‘Who’s stronger, (Jean-Claude) Van Damme or Chuck Norris? Or (Sylvester) Stallone, or someone else?’
“Everything that happens in today’s world is a show, it’s all like a movie. And we are simply actors in that movie.”
The undefeated Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) is 39 and nearing the end of his career. He is planning three more fights ending with his “last dance” against Tyson Fury, who he has already defeated twice.
First up, however, is a title defense against Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
The 37-year-old Verhoeven is a champion kickboxer from the Netherlands, who has only fought once professionally as a boxer in 2014. He won that fight and is 66-10 with 21 KOs as a kickboxer.
Usyk describes it as another “very good media fight” even if he has had to defend his decision to take on such a boxing novice, rather than leading challengers for his belts like WBO champion Fabio Wardley.
“Rico is the absolute world champion in kickboxing and I am in boxing. For the fans, that’s not bad,” Usyk said. “Most people don’t really understand professional sports. They just watch the picture, and people want bread and circuses. We, in turn, went through a certain period of conquering and achieving results. Now we’ll make some noise for a while and then return to specifically boxing opponents because there is a certain plan that we are building for ourselves.”
Even if many people see the fight as a mismatch, Usyk says his preparations are as serious as ever and he has been working on cognitive training techniques to further improve his skills.
According to the British Psychological Society, cognitive training is about treating the brain like a muscle and regularly exercising it via methods such as games or problem solving.
Usyk says it speeds up his decision-making in the ring.
“Boxing is not chess — you have to think quickly in there,” he says.
He has taken a role as chief discipline officer for language learning app Promova, which he says he incorporates into his training regime.
“For example, someone says a word to me in Ukrainian and I have to answer in English, or he says something in English and I have to translate it. All of this keeps intensifying, and your head feels like it’s exploding,” he said.
With all that brain training, getting into the ring is almost a relief.
“In the ring, when I’m boxing, for me, that’s where I’m really ecstatic," Usyk said. "I don’t like training. I don’t like doing this incredible work every single day. But I know it will simply help me perform better in the ring.”
___
Associated Press reporter Illia Novikov in Kyiv contributed to this report.
___
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
___
AP Sports: https://apnews.com/sports
