As bombs shatter the night and missiles streak across Ukranian skies, two of the nation’s most celebrated athletes prepare for battle of a different kind, thousands of miles from the front lines. Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and rising star Serhii Bohachuk carry not just their own dreams into the ring, but the hopes and pain of a country besieged.
Fighting for a Nation’s Pride
For Usyk, who defends his WBC, WBA and WBO world titles against British juggernaut Tyson Fury in a Riyadh rematch on Saturday, each punch thrown is a tribute to his war-weary compatriots.
“Oleksandr often expresses how proud he is to represent Ukraine on the global sports stage and how grateful he is to God for being born Ukrainian, especially at this moment in history,” said Sergey Lapin, Usyk’s long-time friend and career advisor.
The 37-year-old Usyk, who spends his time between grueling training camps in Europe tending to family still living under the shadow of Russian rockets, sees his role as more than just a champion boxer, but a national ambassador and symbol of Ukrainian resilience.
Fueled By a Friend’s Sacrifice
For the undefeated Bohachuk, who faces Ishmael Davis on the undercard, the war hits even closer to home. The 29-year-old junior middleweight contender was visiting family in Ukraine when the conflict erupted, trapping him in his homeland as it transformed into a battlefield overnight.
“My brother is in the Ukrainian military, my close friend is in the Ukrainian military so I’m thinking a lot about them and what is going on in the war,” Bohachuk shared from his training camp. “A 25-year-old guy who lived down my street was killed last week.”
Through the aid of his American promoter, Bohachuk was able to secure passage out of Ukraine to continue his promising boxing career in the US. But the cost of his pursuit of pugilistic greatness weighs heavily.
Punching Through the Pain
As Usyk and Bohachuk prepare for career-defining bouts, their hearts remain with those dodging bullets and patching together war-shattered lives back home. Every perfect punch combination and slick footwork drill in their Saudi Arabia training camps is shadowed by the din of air raid sirens and the cries of fallen friends in Kyiv and Vinnytsia.
“I want to win my fights to also motivate the Ukrainian people, to tell them they are strong, to remind people to stop the war, it’s stupid and very bad,” said Bohachuk.
While Usyk and Bohachuk’s minds may drift to ravaged neighborhoods and brave countrymen between sparring sessions, their fists are laser focused on the task at hand: delivering inspiration and joy to a nation in desperate need of good news.
Glory for Ukraine
As the two warriors march stoically to the ring beneath foreign desert skies on Saturday, an entire country in conflict marches with them, their dreams of triumph accompanying every punch thrown. A win for Usyk or Bohachuk is a win for Ukraine itself, battered but unbroken. And through the sweat and blood, a nation’s spirit endures, embodied in the courage of its fighting sons.
