Fight by Fight: A look at every Oleksandr Usyk win and what it could mean for Joshua
- Joe Hewlett
- 24 September 2021
Planet Sport looks at every win Oleksandr Usyk has had since becoming a professional fighter ahead of his showdown against Anthony Joshua.
Oleksandr Usyk is looking to create history this weekend when he challenges heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
The 2012 Olympic champion will attempt to snare away the WBA, WBO and IBF straps from Joshua when the pair go toe-to-toe at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The most likely chance of Usyk winning is by going the distance by most from the boxing fraternity but judging by his record - especially at 200lbs - Joshua could be in for a shock come fight night.
Planet Sport has taken a look at how Usyk has won all 18 of his fights since turning professional.
Round three: 2
Usyk has won inside three rounds on two occasions - the first being against Ben Nsafoah in his third bout in 2014 and the second in his eighth fight, defeating Johnny Muller of South Africa.
Round four: 2
The southpaw made light work of Epifanio Mendoza in his second pro contest and added to his tally two fights later Cesar David Crenz, scoring another knockout in Odesa, Ukraine.
Round five: 1
On his pro debut - after winning gold at heavyweight at the 2012 Games in London - Usyk dispatched Italy's Felipe Romero in the fifth round.
Round seven: 3
His standout win inside seven rounds is Chazz Witherspoon. Usyk fought the American on his heavyweight debut in 2019 and produced a dominant performance in Chicago.
The other two wins in round seven are Daniel Bruwer and Pedro Rodriguez.
Round eight: 2
Usyk emerged onto the UK scene in 2019 when he took on Tony Bellew. After defeating David Haye twice, Bellew entered the final fight of his career in the best form of his life.
However, despite a positive start, Usyk soon got into the groove and delivered a sickening knockout which saw Bellew go into the ropes.
His other victory in round eight is against Andrey Knyazev in 2015 to retain his WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight strap.
Round nine: 2
Usyk made the first successful defence of his WBO world title at 200lbs with a round nine win over Thabiso Mchunu in his eleventh professional fight.
CompuBox statistics showed that Usyk - who knocked his opponent to the canvas in round six - landed 163 of 517 punches thrown (32%) Danie Venter was the other fighter to feel the brunt of Usyk in the ninth.
Round ten: 1
Usyk's only victory in the tenth is a sensational win against Marco Huck in the World Boxing Super Series quarter-finals. He beat Huck on his home turf in Berlin, Germany.
Points: 5
The most common way of victory for Usyk is the full distance, including his most recent win at heavyweight against veteran Derek Chisora.
Usyk has also defeated Mairis Breidis via majority decision in the WBBS semi-finals and overcame Murat Gassiev via unanimous decision to win the Muhammad Ali Trophy.
His other standout win is American Michael Hunter. Polish slugger Krzysztof GÅ'owacki also tasted defeat via unanimous decision in Usyk's first world title fight in 2016.
