Oleksandr Usyk is not pretending this is anything other than what it is, bringing his usual, casual demeanor to today’s press conference.
Standing across from Rico Verhoeven at the “Glory in Giza” press conference, the unified heavyweight champion looked comfortable, almost amused, as the questions came in. Others fans, however, wonder why a fighter of his résumé would take on a crossover bout instead of facing the next wave of heavyweights waiting behind him.
As usual, Usyk did not deflect.
“One time I want to do what I want, not what need,” he said. “A lot of time I do what needs another people… now I do what I want.”
For Usyk, this feels like a decision that sits right at the center of a familiar divide in boxing, where legacy, obligation and opportunity rarely line up the way fans expect them to.
On one side, there are the purists, the ones who watched Usyk become undisputed at cruiserweight, then do it again at heavyweight, beating Tyson Fury twice and stopping Daniel Dubois to leave no real questions about where he stands. For them, this moment feels like a bit of a detour. A champion at the top of the division, still capable, choosing a crossover fight instead of passing the torch or at least testing the next generation.
On the other, there is a different kind of acceptance, one that comes with perspective.
Usyk is 39. He has already done what most fighters spend entire careers chasing. Olympic gold, undisputed in two divisions, wins across continents, against styles that were supposed to trouble him but he solved and humbled. At a certain point, the argument shifts from what he owes the sport to what the sport has already taken from him.
And if history is any guide, this is not new.
Great fighters have always found their way into spectacle once the hard questions have already been answered. Muhammad Ali did it. Floyd Mayweather Jr. made an entire second act out of it. The difference now is not the decision itself, but how quickly it is dissected.
Verhoeven, for his part, is not shying away from the moment or the criticism that comes with it. If anything, he is leaning into the scale of it.
“We’re bringing new eyeballs to combat sports,” he said. “We’re colliding two worlds together.”
It is a framing that promoters love and purists tend to roll their eyes at, but it also speaks to what this fight actually is. Just a well-deserved cupcake fight for Usyk.
Verhoeven believes that “something else” gives him an opening.
“The puzzle of boxing, Alexander solved multiple times,” he said. “This is a puzzle he hasn’t solved yet.”
That, however, is an argument built on difference more than evidence, especially when so many MMA start before him fell very short in their boxing endeavors.
Usyk’s response to that prediction was as brief as usual, but with his signature whimsy undertone.
“A bad predictor,” he said.
Even Eddie Hearn, who has spent years selling fights of every kind, framed it in extremes, calling Verhoeven “crazy” for stepping into the ring with someone he considers not just the best heavyweight in the world, but one of the greatest fighters of any generation.
And yet for some, the intrigue remains.
“Glory in Giza” takes place May 23 in Egypt, streamed globally on DAZN, a setting that matches the tone of the event itself. Big, unconventional, and impossible to ignore, whether you agree with it or not.
Usyk, at least, seems at peace with that.
“Wonderful winner,” he said, smiling, ending the press conference the same way he entered it, fully aware of the noise around him and as usual, completely unbothered by it.
Read my zine about Usyk here:
Vol1Issue15 by Liliana Ulloa
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