Boxing great made two symbolic political gestures in London with his bout against Daniel Dubois only days away
On Monday afternoon, in central London, Oleksandr Usyk looked resplendent on an open-topped black bus as he prepared to send loaded messages to Daniel Dubois, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. High in the air he held three fingers on his right hand to signify his intention to become a three-time undisputed world champion. It was a typical sporting gesture and underlined his determination to defeat Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night and follow his earlier achievements in winning all the belts as a cruiserweight and then, last year, becoming the first boxer to unify the world heavyweight division this century.
Usyk remains the WBA, WBC and WBO champion but boxing politics forced him to vacate his IBF title soon after he beat Tyson Fury in their magnificent first world title unification fight 14 months ago in Riyadh. He looks ready now for the dangerous challenge of Dubois, the new IBF champion, but Usyk’s arrival in London was a timely reminder of the far more significant role he plays in Ukraine.
Written by Donald McRae
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jul/15/cherished-boxing-champion-and-statesman-oleksandr-usyk-focuses-on-ukraine-before-titles under the title “Cherished champion and statesman: Usyk focuses on Ukraine before titles”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
