Oleksandr Usyk's warning to Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko shortly after winning Olympic gold has come true

12/23/2024 05:20 AM

Oleksandr Usyk warned Wladimir Klitschko that he may have to go up and take his belts years before becoming undisputed champion.

Back in 2013, the Klitschko brothers ruled the heavyweight division of boxing with a dominant run where between them they held all of the gold. Vitali retired on top as WBC champion, while Wladimir was ruling with the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.

Meanwhile, a young Usyk was making his way in the professional ranks after winning gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games. And during a TV segment, he let the brothers know that if they weren’t careful, he’d have to come up and beat them for their belts.

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Oleksandr Usyk warned the Klitschko brothers he would come and take their belts

After winning Olympic gold for Ukraine at heavyweight in the London games, it took Oleksandr Usyk just over a year to make the switch to the paid ranks. However, he was highly-touted from the early days of his career, albeit at the cruiserweight division.

There was a belief that the likes of super-heavyweight gold and silver medalists Anthony Joshua and Zhilei Zhang may be too big when the switch was made to professional. So he opted to start at the lower weight.

However, during a TV segment with the Klitschko brothers, Usyk bluntly told the duo: “You will be leaving and leaving your belt, or I will have to get in the ring.”

Vitali laughed at the suggestion, and told the then-26-year-old: “That’s a good question, Oleksandr I can say that you will not wait until I box with you. In that sense, we’re doing everything so that you, as far as possible, reach the fight for the world title.

“I think that for this, we need a year or two to gain experience. Experience is one of the most important things.”

Wladimir then added that: “This guy, the Olympic champion Oleksandr Usyk, I like him despite everything!”

Oleksandr Usyk is now undisputed heavyweight champion

One of the problems with the Klitschko era was the inability to unify the heavyweight division. The brothers were never going to fight one another, meaning that they kept the belts splintered for years, causing an issue that would persist until this year.

Now over a decade later, Oleksandr Usyk has been able to unify the belts with his wins over Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He became WBO mandatory to unified champion Joshua in 2021, and took home the WBA, IBF and WBO belts when he defeated him in their two bouts.

After a mandatory defence against Daniel Dubois, Usyk was able to move on to a massive pair of Saudi Arabian showdowns with Tyson Fury this year. The Brit had been WBC champion since dethroning Deontay Wilder in 2020, having given up the IBF, WBO and WBA belts in 2016.

Usyk handed Fury his first defeat as a professional back in May with a razor-close decision win that was decided by a big knockdown that he scored in the ninth round which changed the course of the fight. And on Saturday night, he won their rematch by Unanimous Decision in an even more dominant showing.

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