Oleksandr Usyk is still pushing himself to the limit in training.
The unified WBO, WBA, and IBF heavyweight champion could be forgiven for spending some time away from the gym after his undisputed fight with WBC titleholder Tyson Fury was postponed.
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Usyk was hoping to become the first four-belt heavyweight champion in boxing history on February 17, but a cut ‘The Gypsy King’ suffered has delayed their clash.
Rather than simmer down his fruitless training camp, ‘The Joker’ has seemingly ramped things up as he prepares to face his long-time rival this spring.
On Wednesday, Usyk shared a video to his Instagram that showed a member of his team repeatedly hitting him with body shots in a painful training exercise.
The 37-year-old can initially be seen with his hands behind his head as he eats a flurry of punches while the ‘Mission Impossible’ theme music plays in the background.
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As the pain intensifies, Usyk drops his hands to his side and leans into the shots in an effort to take some of the sting off them.
The undefeated Ukrainian grimaced his way through the final few punches before breathing a massive sigh of relief when his training partner finally relented.
Scepticism about Usyk’s ability to take body shots has been growing since he moved to heavyweight, and now he has released footage showing it is an area he is working to improve.
In August 2023, he infamously spent a lengthy period on the floor after being dropped by a Daniel Dubois punch, which was declared a low blow by referee Luis Pabon.
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Usyk went on to KO Dubois a few rounds later, but much of the post-fight talk centred around the heavyweight king ‘faking’ a low blow after taking a body shot he didn’t like.
Before he clashed with Dubois, one fan had pointed out that Anthony Joshua appeared to hurt Usyk with a body shot in their August 2022 rematch, only for it to be called an illegal blow by the same referee.
Soon after, footage of Usyk being floored by an Artur Beterbiev body shot in the 2011 Amateur World Championship quarter-finals went viral on social media.
The clip breathed life into the fan theory about Usyk’s aversion to stomach punches and provided Fury with a big area to target when they finally fight on May 18.
Only time will tell if Usyk’s brutal training techniques will pay off.
