Oleksandr Usyk has claimed Russian soldiers dragged his neighbours away after shooting at his house.
Usyk was fighting on the front line against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has left his home country to prepare for his world heavyweight title defence against Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia this summer. During his time involved in the war, he witnessed a number of horrific occurrences, including watching his neighbours being taken from their home.
He will face Joshua in late June, with the current expected date being June 25 in a purpose-built Saudi Arabian arena after recently deciding to leave the war effort. His fellow fighters Vasily Lomachenko and Yaroslav Amosov both opted to stay in Ukraine and turn down world title fights against George Kambosos Jr and Michael 'Venom' Page respectively.
"I know [Russian soldiers] shot at our house, broke down the gate, and dragged away some of our neighbours," Usyk said in an interview with Czech outlet Profiboxing. "But I don’t know what it looks like there now. We can’t get in touch with anyone. It’s terrible when you run to hide in the basement at every rustle."
Usyk denies having ever shot the AK-47 he was pictured with when he joined the war effort, which took place when he returned from fight negotiations in London back in February. It had looked for a time like Joshua would have to face an interim opponent, but Usyk eventually agreed to the fight after his time on the front lines.
“I came back via Poland," he explained. "It took a day to get to Kyiv. Then another two to see my family and I calmed down a bit. I may have picked up a gun, but that doesn’t mean I would use it, I didn’t think for a moment that I would stay there. This fight ( Anthony Joshua rematch) will be special for me in that respect."
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Joshua and Usyk fought in London back in September, with the Ukrainian easily winning by unanimous decision in front of a packed out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Joshua as champion had negotiated a rematch clause for the fight, and immediately triggered it days later to push through the rematch.
There had been talk of a possible undisputed world heavyweight title fight between Usyk and Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia, but that fell by the wayside. In the meantime, Usyk returned to Ukraine, where he said that he would be willing to do anything, including "killing if necessary" to defend his home country.
"If they will want to take my life, or the lives of my close ones, I will have to do it," Usyk said during a CNN broadcast. "But I don't want that. I don't want to shoot, I don't want to kill anybody, but if they will be killing me, I will have no choice."
