Saturday will be an extremely important day for boxing, and particularly for heavyweight boxing. For the second time this year, two of the best heavyweights the sport has ever seen will square off in the ring. Seven months after edging out Tyson Fury in a split decision, Oleksandr Usyk will put his belts on the line against the Gypsy King once again.
In the first fight, Fury looked to be in control early on, before a spirited Usyk fought back with force and nearly sent Fury to the deck in Round 9. It’s that type of competitive edge that has made Usyk such a fan favorite with many boxing purists. While the war in his home country of Ukraine has mentally drained him since 2022, it also seems to have galvanized him as a boxer; leading him to picking up wins over Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois and Fury since the war began.
Wladimir Klitschko set to return to boxing ring soon?
Boxing has deep roots in Ukraine, particularly in the heavyweight division. With Usyk participating in a major fight again, Ukrainian legend Wladimir Klitschko‘s opinion on the fight was bound to come, but he did more than that: he teased a possible return to the ring.
Klitschko is fully backing his compatriot against Fury, but it seems the itch to box has never fully gone away. The former heavyweight world champion is now 48 years old and hasn’t fought since 2017. His career ended with losses to Fury and Joshua, bringing his record to a close at 64-5.
He looks to be in great shape still, but a return to the ring would likely come in the form of an exhibition. Of course, anything is possible, so we’ll see how serious Klitschko is about coming out of retirement. Boxing fans could have never imagined Klitschko and Manny Pacquiao both floating the possibility of fighting in 2024.
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