{"id":10712,"date":"2025-07-21T11:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T11:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/10712\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T11:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T11:12:08","slug":"oleksandr-usyk-refuses-to-be-drawn-on-next-opponent-as-he-enters-final-stage-of-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/10712\/","title":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk refuses to be drawn on next opponent as he enters final stage of career"},"content":{"rendered":"

New undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk<\/a> was in no mood to share who he plans to fight next in what might be the final outing of his incredible career.<\/p>\n

In the ring immediately after the fight, Usyk refused to be drawn on his next opponent, listing off potential names but never landing on any.<\/p>\n

Tyson Fury<\/a>, currently 0-2 against the Ukrainian wizard, wants a trilogy fight, Derek Chisora<\/a> is the IBF mandatory, Joseph Parker<\/a> is next in line for a crack at the WBO while the prodigious Moses Itauma<\/a> could enhance his case for a shot with an emphatic win over Dillian Whyte next month. Usyk even name checked Anthony Joshua<\/a>, another man he has beaten twice.<\/p>\n

But in the auditorium of the stadium just before midnight, as the last of the 100,000 fans shuffled home down Wembley Way, Usyk was once again asked who exactly he has his eye on for his next fight, which could land before the end of the year.<\/p>\n

It is in keeping for Usyk to keep his cards close to his chest in the immediate aftermath of a fight and he has never been one for press conference call outs. After he first beat Anthony Joshua, across London at Tottenham, he told the assembled media that all he wanted to do was plant an apple tree.<\/p>\n

This time, however, there are not even plans for afforestation for the 38-year-old, who is now 24-0, 15 KOs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I want to rest,\u201d he reiterated. \u201cI can\u2019t say who my next opponent is. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have prepared for three and a half months for this fight, I have not seen my wife or my family. Every day I lived with my team in a house with 14 guys. Seeing the same faces every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I want a choice of what to do next. I will continue boxing and training but now I cannot say what is next.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was also put to Usyk, a former European amateur champion, Olympic gold medalist and now an undefeated three-time undisputed champion across two weight classes, that he may struggle for motivation with nothing left to achieve in the sport.<\/p>\n

But, he said, his success has nothing to do with motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have motivation,\u201d he said. \u201cI have discipline. Motivation is temporary.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday you have motivation but tomorrow you might not have it. When I wake up every morning in training camp I never have motivation, I have only discipline. When I wake up, so does my team and we go training.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“Motivation is for amateur sportsmen, not professionals. Motivation is good but discipline is better.\u201d<\/p>\n

That discipline ensured his debut at Wembley Stadium ended in yet more glory on British soil, a place Usyk says feels like a home from home. Saturday night was his seventh straight win against a UK heavyweight and took his record to 8-0, 3 KOs against Brits. It is worth noting that road warrior Usyk has registered four of those wins in England and none in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cFor me, UK is like a second home because this is where I got all my trophies. European amateur championships, London 2012, Tony Bellew, Derek Chisora, Anthony Joshua and now Dubois.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very grateful for this country. Thank you so much, you\u2019re the best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk was in no mood to share who he plans to fight next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,2989,2983,2831,2988,2981,2984,2985,2986,2987,2982,1920,2993,2992,1913,2976,2977,2990,2978,2975,2994,2772,85,2991,2974,2980,2979],"class_list":["post-10712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-community","tag-boxing-fights","tag-boxing-history","tag-boxing-interviews","tag-boxing-magazine","tag-boxing-photos","tag-boxing-rankings","tag-boxing-results","tag-boxing-schedule","tag-boxing-videos","tag-boxing-news","tag-disqualification","tag-draw","tag-fight","tag-fighter","tag-fighter-news","tag-knockout","tag-latest-boxing-matches","tag-ring","tag-ring-magazine","tag-split-decision","tag-sports","tag-technical-knockout","tag-the-ring","tag-top-fighters","tag-upcoming-boxing-matches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}