Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk is a Ukrainian professional
boxer. He became the unified world heavyweight champion by defeating Anthony
Joshua on Saturday and grabbing the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles in the
process.

Born on 17 January 1987 in Simferopol, Crimean Oblast,
Ukrainian SSR in the erstwhile Soviet Union,  Usyk played association football until the age
of 15, having been trained at the SC Tavriya Simferopol specialized sports
school of Olympic reserve. He switched to boxing in 2002.

He reached the semi-final of the 2006 European Championships, losing to Matvey Korobov. After the defeat, Usyk moved up to
light-heavyweight and went on to win the Strandja Cup in 2008. He did not stay
in that weight category either and moved up another weight class in February
2008. Usyk replaced European Champion Denys Poyatsyka for the Olympic Qualifier
where he defeated Azeri Elchin Alizade and Daniel Price.

He came back empty-handed from Beijing Olympics after being
defeated in the quarterfinal by Clemente Russo. He dropped down to
light-heavyweight and won gold at the 2008 European Championships, but later
moved back up to heavyweight.

At the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships, he defeated
Artur Beterbiev and Teymur Mammadov to win the heavyweight title and qualify
for the 2012 Olympics that were to be held in London. He did not disappoint
anyone there as he won the gold medal outpointing Artur Beterbiev, Tervel Pulev, and his old nemesis Clemente Russo, whom he defeated in the final to win the
high price. Usyk retired from amateur boxing with a record of 335−15.

Next year, he turned pro. Usyk won his first title in 2014,
after beating South African boxer Daniel Bruwer for the interim WBO
Inter-Continental cruiserweight title. He has since not lost a single fight in
his professional career, winning all 19 that he has fought.