Video | Oleksandr Usyk gets emotional while speaking of his late father after becoming undisputed heavyweight champion: “I know he is here”

Undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk was brought to tears while speaking about his late father at tonight’s post-fight press conference.

Usyk (22-0) squared off against Tyson Fury (34-1-1) this evening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the winner set to become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in the last twenty-five years.

Oleksandr Usyk had most previously competed in August of last year, where he earned a ninth-round knockout victory over Daniel Dubois. That win was of course preceded by back-to-back victories over Anthony Joshua where he claimed and then defended the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.

As for the now former WBC champion Tyson Fury, ‘The Gypsy King’ had entered tonight’s title fight sporting a seven-fight win streak, his most recent being a hotly debated split decision victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

‘Fury vs. Usyk’ was arguably the most anticipated boxing match of the last decade and the fight itself did not disappoint. The Ukranian was able to get off to a strong start in rounds one and two, but Tyson Fury stormed back, especially in rounds five and six, to seemingly take the lead on the scorecards at the midway point of the fight. However, in round eight Oleksandr Usyk was able to swing the tide back in his favor after cracking the Brit with a powerful left hand that appeared to have busted his nose. Then, in round nine, Usyk wobbled Fury with another big shot and quickly pounced on him with a flurry of punches which eventually led to a knockdown. Although ‘The Gypsy King’ was able to survive the onslaught, he never regained his early momentum and the Ukranian proceeded to cruise through rounds nine to twelve.

Official Result: Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury via split decision (115-112, 113-114, 114-113)

During tonight’s post-fight press conference, Usyk spoke candidly about his late father and became overwhelmed with emotions:

https://twitter.com/Turki_alalshikh/status/1792012088816120183

“For me it is hard when my father comes back to me because I remember all life. I know he is here, maybe sitting out there [in the press room]. I miss my father,” he said while wiping tears from his face. “I know he’s here.”

Oleksandr Usyk had of course lost his father shortly after winning gold at the 2012 Olympic games. He continued by discussing all of the sacrifices he had to make on route to becoming the undisputed champion this evening:

“Nine months, I worked. I missed Happy New Year. I missed birthday [of] my son. I missed birthday of my other son, too. I missed the birthday of my daughter. I missed [the birth] of my daughter. I missed all of my family holidays. All the time, I was training, training, training. My focus was only this fight. Now, I’m happy. I want to [go] back home, go to my church and pray. I want to say, ‘Jesus, thank you,’ because for me and my country, it was a big opportunity.”

In conclusion, Usyk went on to say that he felt the referee saved Fury from a sure stoppage in Round 9:

“I believe the referee saved Tyson from a knockout and stole the ninth-round knockout, which should have happened. But, no knockout, no problem [we still won].”

Oleksandr Usyk is now expected to have an immediate rematch with Tyson Fury this coming October.