Oleksandr Usyk revealed the list of moments he had sacrificed in his journey to become undisputed champion.
The Ukrainian defeated Tyson Fury in a drama-filled clash on Saturday night, live on DAZN.
He won by split-decision, though was unfortunate not to have been granted a stoppage in the ninth when he had the Briton against the ropes and deeply frazzled.
The fight had originally been slated for February but a cut to Fury’s eye saw the fight moved to last night, and with an extended preparation period, Usyk discussed the sacrifices he had made along the way.
“I don’t think about boxing now,” he said regarding a rematch, reported BoxingScene.com . “My start [of preparing for Fury] was September 2023.
“Nine months I worked; I missed happy new year; I missed my son’s birthday; I missed my other son’s birthday; I missed my daughter’s birthday; I missed my daughter’s birth. I missed my family’s holidays. All the time, training; training; training. My focus was only this fight.
“Now I’m happy. I want to go back home, go to my church, pray, say, ‘Jesus, thank you’. Because for me, and my country, it’s a big opportunity. I’m grateful for whoever prayed for me, because it’s many people. Thank you.
“I didn’t worry [about the scorecards] – I don’t know why. I believed that I won.
“I don’t think about [whether the referee Mark Nelson denied me a knockout by giving Fury a standing count], because we had a win. Maybe. I don’t think about it, because we have a win. Okay – no knockout, no problem. The 12th round was a big drama.”
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