Anthony Joshua’s unexpected friendship with Usyk is exactly what boxing needs
With Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua has found solace in the unlikeliest place
As Usyk shows ‘AJ’ around Kyiv, three months after the deaths of two of Joshua’s close friends, their bond is a refreshing union in a time of division
As Anthony Joshua’s heavy feet stamped over the metronomic ‘vvvrrrrp’ of the running machine’s belt, there stood one of his greatest rivals, inches away, staring him down.
“You like coconut?” Oleksandr Usyk asked the British heavyweight, a look of anticipation in the Ukrainian’s eyes. Then came the slightest nod from Joshua, the movement almost indistinguishable from the rhythm of his running. “Yeeeeessss, you like!” was Usyk’s gleeful response.
“We’re now not here,” said Usyk, dressed in a yellow top and shorts and a blue bandana, the colours of his beloved country. “We’re on Miami Beach. We drink cold coconut with ice. And music!” Dancing and a kind of muted beatboxing ensued from Usyk, the next stage of his encouragement.
He and Joshua were, of course, not on Miami Beach drinking any sort of coconut-flavoured beverage; they were in a gym in Kyiv, Ukraine, as opponents-turned-friends. More than that, Usyk has since said: they are now brothers.
Their unexpected bond has been a refreshing union in a time of division, both in the boxing world and the wider one. Promotions, governing bodies and lawyers have begun to clash as frequently in boxing as the fighters themselves, amid a sporting civil war, while a real-world war has erupted in recent weeks, as you might have noticed.
Usyk knows a thing or two about war, certainly more than he would wish to. The former two-time undisputed heavyweight champion, and two-time conqueror of Joshua, continues to support his compatriots as best as he can, four years into Ukraine’s renewed conflict with Russia. In fact, the 39-year-old’s second duel with “AJ” took place just six months after Russia’s invasion of Usyk’s nation, with the southpaw overcome by emotion after beating the Briton for the second time in a year.
Joshua was infamously overcome by emotion, too. In a (possibly concussion-induced) rage, he dumped Usyk’s unified heavyweight titles over the ropes of the Riyadh ring, before storming out of it. Joshua, now 36, returned and did his best to recover some grace, having failed to recover his old belts during the bout itself. In his defence, he has been a most-gracious ambassador of himself and his sport for the vast majority of his career.
In any case, he and Usyk have come a long way since that encounter in August 2022. Now, the unbeaten Usyk is showing Joshua around Kyiv.
“I wanted to show Anthony my national food, my culture, Ukrainian music, everything,” Usyk told the Daily Mail this week. “I want him to feel my energy and understand the places that are important to me. Maidan [the main city square], for example, is now like a memorial. It’s not only about Ukrainians, it’s about all the people who help and protect Ukraine – people from the UK, Europe, the USA, Australia, the whole world.
“When we talk, I tell Anthony about the young guys, people born in the 2000s, who are going through all of this. You hear about the night bombing, the events happening here, and you realise how serious it is. He says: ‘Oh, my God, it’s a big problem.’ And I say: ‘Yeah, brother, it’s a big problem.’”
“Brother” may just be the key word. “I really appreciate that he’s here,” Usyk continues. “To me, he’s like a big brother. He’s not my rival, not my opponent; he’s my partner, my brother.”
It feels especially poignant given the timing, just three months after Joshua survived a fatal car crash in Nigeria, in which two of his friends lost their lives. As well as being friends, Joshua’s teammates Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele were his “brothers”.
In fact, the initial shock of seeing Joshua in Kyiv with Usyk came not just from the surreality of the situation, but the notion that AJ’s presence in such a dangerous place might not have been wise – especially in the aftermath of December’s accident. Yet Joshua seems to have found a kind of solace there with Usyk. That is important.
One particularly moving moment for Joshua and Usyk was an encounter with a Ukrainian soldier, cursed to wear as haunted an expression as one could imagine, who handed the Briton a patch displaying a territory that he had seemingly been defending.
Right now, wars are being waged inside and outside boxing. Those outside obviously grant a crucial perspective on the irrelevance of those inside. Still, amid all this, AJ has been fighting his own personal battle – and in Usyk, he has found an unlikely, welcome comrade.
