On his daughter Elizaveta’s birthday, February 24, Russian troops launched an invasion of Ukraine, starting a nightmare even for the Olympic champion from London. The beginning of the war caught him in Great Britain, from where he then made his way home in a difficult way, so that he could get his family to safety and subsequently enlist in the army himself.
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“My kids ask me, ‘Dad, why do they (the Russians) want to kill us,’ and I don’t know what to say to them,” the boxing champion and father of three told British reporters in preparation for the rematch with Joshua, which is on program in August in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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Usyk spent several weeks in Kyiv in the ranks of the militia, but senior political representatives of the country urged him to temporarily leave the army and start preparing for the defense of titles, which will allow him to do much more for Ukraine on the international stage.
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On the way from the hell of war, he and his family also settled in the Czech Republic for a while, where, among other things, he revealed that Russians had moved into his house in Ukraine.
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“My family is no longer in Ukraine, but I still have a lot of acquaintances and friends there. I am in contact with them every day, I am constantly asking them what is new. I didn’t want to leave my country. I want to live there. Right after the fight with Joshua, I’ll be back there,” he assured.
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Boxer Usyk at football in Hradec. I wouldn’t wish what I experienced in Ukraine on anyoneVideo: Sport.cz
“When I was there in the hospital where our wounded soldiers were being treated, they told me to go to the ring to fight for my pride and for the whole country. That I will help the country more in this match than in the war itself,” he continued.
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During the very first day of the war, which he spent in Kiev, he fully realized, according to his words, that all the titles and millions he had won in his career and everything he had achieved could be lost in a second.
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Now they are trying to concentrate on preparing for the August duel, in which, among other things, 50 million pounds will be spent, i.e. roughly 1.5 billion crowns. However, every day he finds out information about what is happening in Ukraine. Nor will they let him sleep with the lies that Russian propaganda feeds its citizens and soldiers.
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“They are not showing them the truth. They don’t show bombs falling on civilian homes, on maternity hospitals, or, as recently, on a shopping mall. Their soldiers and people say that we are shooting at each other,” he lamented.
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In the meantime, of course, a humbled Joshua is grinding his teeth on his scalp in the ring, for whose career a possible defeat in the rematch would have quite severe consequences. The Brit does everything possible to achieve success. He has completely changed the coaching team and it is believed that this time he will definitely mature into a smart and well-moving Ukrainian.
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“But I don’t think about him (Joshua) at all, I’m not interested in what he wants to do, his new tactics and coaches. It does not interest me. I only focus on myself. I’m only interested in winning,” he added.
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