Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk has won every major title in professional boxing without suffering a single defeat. He became the undisputed world champion in the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions proving that victories are won by those who set their own rules.
"There are eight billion people on this planet, yet I’m the one who became the undisputed world champion," says Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk. On the night of May 19, 2024, at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he claimed the WBO super heavyweight title — the fourth belt in his collection — in a bout against British fighter Tyson Fury. This victory cemented his place among the legends of boxing. Today Usyk is a sporting legend: the only athlete in history to have collected all the championship belts from the WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF federations in both the heavyweight and–the most prestigious–super heavyweight divisions.
Usyk’s fights have the air of fashion shows — with sheikhs and A-list stars in the front row (footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, actors Daniel Craig and Jason Statham to name but few) — and rock concerts, pulsing with adrenaline. His title bout against Anthony Joshua in 2021, resulting in Usyk taking all three belts — WBA, WBO, and IBF — from the Brit, stunned the 60,000-strong crowd at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Last year, 90,000 spectators at London’s Wembley watched the Ukrainian boxer, in a rematch for the undisputed championship, knock out British heavyweight Daniel Dubois in the fifth round with his signature "Ivan" punch. Tens of millions more around the world watched these fights streamed online.
The 39-year-old Oleksandr Usyk is an almost two-meter-tall Adonis with Johnny Depp’s charisma and Matt Rife’s sense of humor. Outside the boxing ring, he is a husband, a loving father of four, a man of faith, an actor (he made a guest appearance in the recent Hollywood sports drama The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson), a millionaire, a sports patron, and a national favorite. Recently, he has grown a mustache and beard, his hair, graying slightly at the temples, is neatly combed back. His clear blue eyes and trademark toothy grin can be deceiving: it’s not immediately obvious that behind this open face is a master and a machine that expertly strings together combinations of virtuoso jabs, hooks, and uppercuts.
Pink suits Usyk remarkably well, complementing his striking, vibrant masculinity. In his extensive Stone Island wardrobe, he wears sweaters, corduroy jackets, and windbreakers in soft pastel shades. "Liza (Usyk’s eldest daughter – ed. note) said I should take it," he explains. "Who am I not to listen?" In Kyiv, he cruises around in a black Mercedes G-Class or a dark green roaring BMW G12 7 Series, which he affectionately calls "Halia" (a common female name in Ukraine – ed. note). For over seven years, he has trained in a regular Kyiv gym, alongside everyone else, no security. On his ring finger, he wears a diamond pavé wedding band in white gold; on his wrist, a gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona John Mayer edition with a green dial. His left ear bears a Cossack-style horseshoe earring (a nod to his ancestral roots – Cossacks are warriors embodying the ideals of freedom, courage, and resilience of the Ukrainian nation – ed. note), and around his neck hangs a heavy silver cross on a black cord. "I owe everything I have to God," Usyk says. "In this life, you truly own nothing. You are tested by wealth and poverty, by love and hate, but only one thing matters: what kind of soul you have when you reach the finale of your earthly life."
"In this life, you truly own nothing. You are tested by wealth and poverty, by love and hate, but only one thing matters: what kind of soul you have when you reach the finale of your earthly life."
We photograph the living boxing legend in Kyiv in February, during one of the harshest winters the Ukrainian capital has faced since the start of the full-scale invasion. Affected by continuous of Russian shelling, electricity in residential buildings comes on for only a couple of hours a day. The hum of generators along the sidewalks drowns out every other sound of the big city, a constant drone that hardly ever stops. Photographer Charlie Gray and stylist David Bradshaw have flown in from London. Some of Usyk’s championship belts have been packed into a large suitcase that now weighs about a ton. At home, Usyk usually keeps them in the same corner where the family shelters during air-raid sirens.
Together with Gray and Bradshaw they travel with us to the office of Vogue Ukraine. "I hope I won’t see them on OLX?" (a Ukrainian online marketplace – ed. note), Oleksandr says, adding half-jokingly: "I know how to sell them for more." (Last December, his WBC championship belt, won in the fight against Tyson Fury, was sold at a charity auction in Kyiv for one million dollars. All the proceeds went toward the treatment of a two-year-old boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy – ed. note.) "Eight hours a day!?" Usyk is surprised by Vogue’s three-day shift to produce this story. "So my wife signed me up for that schedule and then went off on her own business? I’d never have agreed to that myself. Alright then, let’s get to it."
Usyk speaks about becoming the undisputed champion with genuine excitement. On his phone, he shows me photos of the notes he once wrote to an imaginary fan from the future. "To my fan, Serhii Shumilov, from Olympic champion Oleksandr Usyk. September 19, 2009," reads the neat, slightly left-leaning hand-writing. "The Olympics didn’t come to me on the first try," Usyk recalls. "In 2008 in Beijing I lost, but I won Olympic gold in London in 2012." In another note dated January 15, 2013, he already calls himself the world champion under the WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF versions. The athlete accomplished that mission six years later.
"All my achievements were made possible by strict discipline. An early rise, cold showers, and training every single day."
We are sitting in the locker room of a boxing club in Podil, Kyiv’s historic district. It’s –17°C outside; the heating isn’t working, and the lights are powered by a portable power station. Our crew has just returned from the Dnipro hills, where in a snowstorm, to the sound of air-raid sirens, we photographed Usyk against the backdrop of the 102-meter Motherland Monument, a symbol of Ukrainian resilience. To warm up, we pour black tea from a thermos, but it cools almost instantly. Usyk wraps himself in a gray Gieves & Hawkes coat made of fine wool, worn over his bare torso—at the stylist’s request. But first he shows me the tattoo on his right arm: the Motherland Monument with the Ukrainian triden on its shield. "I got this in 2010. It was my way of putting the idea of a shield with the Ukrainian coat of arms out into the universe." (In August 2023, Soviet symbols were dismantled from the monument and replaced with Ukrainian ones – ed. note.) I glance around the battered walls of the room covered with yellowing posters of boxing legends.
"I started in places just like this," Usyk says, catching my eye as he bites into a piece of wafer cake (big flat wafers layered with condensed milk – ed. note.). "It doesn’t matter where you are if you have a dream."
"Is it good?" I ask.
"Love it," says Usyk. "I make it for my kids."
The future champion was born into a military family in Ukrainian Crimea, where his parents had moved from the north of the country: his father, Oleksandr Usyk Sr., hailed from the Sumy region, and his mother, Nadiia, from the Chernihiv region. His childhood coincided with the early 2000s, when the country was going through an economic and political crisis. Despite their desire to help their son, there was little his parents could do.
"Sometimes I would miss classes for two weeks because I had no shoes to wear to school," Usyk recalls. But he had something far more important — the freedom to express himself. "When adults impose their vision of the world on children, they don’t allow their dreams to take shape," he reflects. "My father believed in me and waited for me to figure out who I was."
At nine years old, Usyk caught a cold that soon developed into double pneumonia. He spent almost a year in and out of hospital. "I saw my parents spending their last money on my treatment, and this made me very sad," he recalls. Feeling powerless, he began to pray as his grandmother had taught him. This eventually led him to find faith in God. As a child, he ran around playing football and practiced traditional folk dances. With the speed in his legs and fluidity in his movements, he started boxing at 15. Usyk quickly realized that sport was where he truly could excel. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee": this credo of Muhammad Ali, who was born the same day as Usyk and had a similar build, became his personal motto. He was ambitious and knew what he wanted. He promised his mother that one day he would fly her on a private jet, but for now, he clashed with teachers at school, insisting on simply being heard. "I had an explosive character," Usyk says. "I couldn’t just raise my hand and wait for my turn. I would shout out from my seat. They told me, ‘You’re an upstart. You’ll never make it.’ But I knew this trait would eventually help me reach my dream." That same audacious Usyk appears in the famous 2013 video clip when he meets with brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko. He asked the reigning champions — both towering over him literally and figuratively — whether he would have to step into the ring with them to claim the belts. (At that time, in between two of them the Klitschko brothers held all the titles in the heavyweight division: Vitali was the WBC champion, and Wladimir held the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts – ed. note.) They simply smiled.
"All my achievements were made possible by strict discipline," Usyk explains. "Since childhood, I did everything as my father said. An early rise, cold showers, and training every single day. He taught me to take care of myself until I could take control of my own life." His father never hugged him as a child or told him he loved him. "I thought he was a tyrant. Silent, cold, handsome." Once Usyk Sr. disappeared for a month. It later turned out he had gone to earn money working in the vineyards. When he returned, exotic and luxurious fresh grapes, oranges, and butter appeared on the table — and on his father’s face a faint smile, as rare as fruit in their home.
"When adults impose their vision of the world on children, they don’t allow their dreams to take shape. My father believed in me and waited for me to figure out who I was."
Usyk speaks of his children with a blissful smile: "My daughters are my love, and my sons are handsome champs." Oleksandr and his wife Kateryna have been together for over twenty years. They are raising four children: Liza, 16; Kyrylo, 13; Mykhailo, 11; and Mariia, 3. To every fight, Usyk shows up wearing shorts embroidered with the name of one of his loved ones. "Kateryna and I work first on ourselves, not on our children, so they can see what a healthy relationship looks like and absorb our family’s values," Usyk says.
His every morning begins with prayer. In their home outside Kyiv, Usyk has set up an improvised icon corner dedicated to the patron saints of each family member. At the center are an icon of the Virgin Mary, a candle, and a bottle of holy water. "My youngest daughter knows this is her patron saint, and sometimes she comes during prayer to kiss the icon," he says. On the kitchen wall hangs a family portrait drawn by Liza: in the middle are her mother, her sister, and herself; on either side stand her father and brothers; and above them all is God.
For many years, Usyk has supported a boy with cerebral palsy who is now sixteen. "When I visit him, I bring one of my children along so they don’t grow up isolated from reality, so they learn to interact with someone living a different life, understand their own needs, and appreciate what they have: family, good health, a home, the chance to study," he says. "Their first reaction is usually pity, but this boy is a trooper. He works hard every single day, and that deserves admiration. We teach each other to see another person beside us, not just ourselves and our own feelings."
Usyk loves organizing family runs. "I understand that running five kilometers at a set pace is hard for the kids," he says. "But I keep raising the bar, setting challenges for them, because I don’t know what life might throw their way. My job is to make sure they grow up physically and mentally strong." He believes the body can endure anything. The key is convincing the brain. Usyk constantly tests himself: he completed two marathons, swum ten kilometers in pools, rivers, and the open sea; cycled 100 kilometers under the scorching Dubai sun; spent 40 rounds straight in the ring — four hours that cost him four kilos. His next goal is to swim across the Bosphorus. Does he have any ordinary sporting hobbies? After training sessions, he loves playing the blockbuster video game Counter-Strike with his team. Football has been his passion since childhood.
Usyk’s children are never told "no." "I always say ‘yes’ to them, and then I add ‘but,’" he tells me. "I want them to make the right choices, so I try to explain how things work." For many years, he has been writing a letter to his eldest daughter, Liza, intended for her 18th birthday. "It’s full of love and gratitude, all about growing up, relationships, and men, but not a single ‘you must.’ The one who must do something is me: I must show her what it means to truly love a woman. So I try to be a good husband to Kateryna." In his phone’s contacts, Liza is saved as "Beloved Love." "When I first saw my daughter, I felt tenderness and a boost of motivation. I was preparing for the 2012 Olympics. One of my friends said, ‘But it’s a girl, not a boy.’ I wanted to punch him. To me it was a child sent by God." Usyk recalls how Liza’s arrival changed his life: "There was no more room for boyish romance or showing off. There was home, training sessions, and church. I would still meet friends, but my circle shrank. People thought fame had gone to my head."
Having Liza helped him better understand his own father. He remembers how hard it was to provide for his family on a young athlete’s salary. He never turned down work as a bodyguard or driver if it meant making some extra cash. The hardest part, Usyk says, was staying true to his principles. "I never agreed to compete for another country or throw a fight, no matter how difficult things got."
He lets out a long breath and, after a pause, says: "For my eighteenth birthday, my father gave me a gold cross on a chain. It meant a lot to me. Often, that chain would save me when we ran out of money. I would pawn it when the last box of baby formula and a few diapers were all we had left. As soon as I managed to earn some money, I would buy it back. In a way, my father was still helping me then." Usyk Sr. passed away a month after his son won Olympic gold in London. Usyk never got the chance to show him the medal, so he laid it in his coffin. His father’s death became the greatest personal crisis of his life. "I shut myself in at home and drank vodka for three days. Then I remembered I had a family. Without them, I don’t know where I’d be now."
In amateur boxing, Usyk fought around 400 bouts and reached its pinnacle—Olympic gold. Next, he aimed to conquer the world of professional sports, with harder punches and longer fights. In 2013, he was offered a contract that required moving to Los Angeles for a year. America didn’t appeal to Kateryna, she refused to go. "I realized I would be risking my family if I accepted," Usyk says. "I had always dreamed of a tall brunette wife and five children. I prayed for it. So I stayed jhome." Many thought he was making a mistake, but Usyk was confident everything would work out. "When people say it’s impossible, it’s an honor for me to prove otherwise. No matter how hard or long it takes, I will get there. I’ll fly, swim, crawl — whatever. For the sake of reaching my goal, I can endure anything. Looking back, I’m even prouder that I began my pro boxing journey in Ukraine and still ended up where I dreamed to be."
A story of Usyk storming into professional boxing will one day be in sports history textbooks. In November 2013, he had his first heavyweight bout (~80-90 kg) against Mexican fighter Felipe Romero. The Ukrainian knocked him out. In sixteen fights, Usyk became the undisputed champion, defeating Brit Tony Bellew in the decisive match. Against the heavyweights (~91 kg and above), he cleared the field in just eight fights, defeating an American, Chazz Witherspoon, and British fighters Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois, and Tyson Fury, each of them twice. For these victories, Usyk earned the historical title and gained the nickname "Brit Slayer."
"Looking back, I’m even prouder that I began my pro boxing journey in Ukraine and still ended up where I dreamed to be."
He was adored and fiercely criticized. Haters were craving for blood and action, accusing Usyk of avoiding open confrontation and claiming he couldn’t take a punch, that he was dancing in the ring instead of boxing "for real." Despite the criticism, Usyk introduced a different model of boxing, some now call it the boxing of the future: fast, agile, intelligent, and technically flawless. He chose the nickname "The Cat," highlighting grace, speed, and strategic thinking in the ring. Within a short time, Usyk defeated champions not with his size and physical ability, but with exceptional skill, imposing his own pace and rules on opponents. In the world of professional boxing, where verbal humiliation has long been part of the show, he reached the top without showing aggression, bravado, or rudeness. Sometimes he even used subtle humor, like the time he whispered in the voice of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings: "Fury… I’m coming for you." (Usyk’s dramatic side has been with him since childhood.)
Charlie Gray, the photographer for this story, recalls his first time meeting the Ukrainian champion. "It happened when I was working on a book about the Usyk–Fury fight (Undisputed, published by Assouline in January this year)," he says. "I went to his training camp in Spain and was pleasantly surprised. Every part of the day was meticulously organized, and his coach, Yuriy Tkachenko, paid attention to every detail. I was photographing Alex’s sparring session when everyone got the news that the fight would be postponed because of Fury’s injury. Usyk didn’t seem bothered. His mental focus didn’t change. ‘The fight will happen anyway,’ he said. ‘So let’s keep going.’ It was amazing to see that level of professionalism."
Usyk starts preparing for major fights two months in advance. During this period, he cuts off contact with the outside world—with everyone except his family and his team. He begins with two training sessions a day, gradually building up to three. The day begins at 6:00 a.m. with an hour of cardio, followed by a protein shake and a one-hour nap. Breakfast is at 9:30. An hour and a half later comes a two-hour training session in the ring. Then lunch, another nap, and sparring at 6:00 p.m., followed by a massage and a full night’s sleep. This cycle repeats day after day. His diet is carefully balanced: fats, proteins, and carbohydrates measured out according to a plan designed by the star Ukrainian nutritionist Kateryna Tolstikova. "During this period, there is no room for cakes or fast food. Even steamed vegetables go unsalted. Beyond physical conditioning, mental readiness to win is essential. Top athletes see no obstacles to their goals," he explains.
Usyk’s secret is finding the key to victory over a specific opponent. He observes their habits, listens to what they say and how they behave in the ring, studies videos of their best attacks and misses, scans their every movement. "People tend to make the same mistakes," he notes. He analyzes his own fights in the same way: "A missed punch always starts with a wrong move. Just before the hook, I might step diagonally instead of to the side. Those ten centimeters decide everything. I would stand in front of a mirror and practice the right retreat until it becomes automatic. A good habit comes from repeating the right actions." His toughest opponent, he admits, was British heavyweight Derek Chisora. Fighting him in October 2020 in London earned Usyk the coveted WBO title. "He’s just like me! He didn’t care about anything. He did whatever he wanted in the ring. Later he admitted he couldn’t beat me technically, so he tried to pressure me psychologically. But I stood my ground."
"After a fight, not only friendship but true brotherhood is possible."
We talk about Usyk’s decisive fight against Tyson Fury, a 2,06m titan, skilled and fast (Oleksandr Usyk is 1,91). "When we signed the contract for the first fight, two months out, I told my team: I don’t know how, but I will," he recalls. "In some rounds, he was relentless, but I held my ground because I knew we were only halfway through, and the fight would be long. And I’m a marathoner." Boxing is a very individual sport: you get one-to-one with your opponent. "I’ve fought real tigers," Oleksandr says. "Respect to those who overcome their fears and step into the ring." Is there room for friendship in professional boxing? "After a fight, not only friendship but true brotherhood is possible," he insists. "I’m friends with almost everybody. Derek Chisora introduced me to someone who has already donated over three million euros to Ukraine."
Throughout our shoot, fans approach Usyk for autographs, selfies, or simply to share their impressions of his work in the ring. "My wife went into labor," one fan recalls. "Luckily, I still got to watch your fight. The next day, our daughter was born." Usyk comments on how society’s expectations of victories on the international stage have shifted, and how important these wins have become for Ukrainians during the war. He remembers being in London when the full-scale invasion began. The journey home had never felt so long. He enlisted in the territorial defense and turned down scheduled fights. In April 2022, he launched the charitable Usyk Foundation, raising funds for civilians and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In October that year he became an ambassador for the president’s fundraising platform United24. He didn’t feel the need to return to the ring until soldiers themselves began asking him about upcoming fights. In August 2022, ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day, he faced Anthony Joshua for the second time in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. "I remember stumbling in the ring," Usyk says. "That moment I thought: Lord, please, not now." He won that fight and later received a video of soldiers on the second line of defense in Donbas sharing the news of his victory with the troops on the front line. It was no longer just his victory. It belonged to all Ukrainians. "I felt again that I was doing something important," he recalls.
After every fight, Usyk lets out a victorious cry in the ring: "Kaaatia!" His wife Kateryna, a beautiful green-eyed brunette, is always present in the arena. She is not the type to cover her eyes with her hands and look away. "I’m focused on the result," she says confidently when we meet, and that electric surge immediately spreads through the room.
The day after the fight against Tyson Fury in Riyadh for the undisputed cruiserweight world title, Charlie Gray captured an iconic shot of the Usyks lying in a hotel bed with the championship belts spread around them: Oleksandr is flexing his muscles and looking at the camera, his wife is giving him a kiss on the forehead. Katia recalls her nerves: "Usyk was covered in bruises after the fight, and I was thirty kilos heavier after giving birth. What kind of photo would that be?" This quote depicts the truth about the star couple. Their openness and their courage to be themselves are so disarming that anyone who works with them feels a personal responsibility to honor that trust.
After his fights, Usyk can go without sleep for up to thirty hours. "At that pace, your pulse reaches 200. You’re exhausted, but you can’t rest," he says. "During those days, the only thing I want is to see my wife. Her presence helps me relax." Could he have made it without her? He answers honestly that he probably could, then adds his signature "but": "I don’t know what kind of person I would be without her. I’d definitely be more aggressive. She is the light of my eyes."
Usyk admits that the final chapter of his boxing career is not far off, but he has no intention of sitting idle. He wants to help talented young athletes reach their potential. "We have many strong, skilled young people in our country." After a pause, he adds: "I don’t like the current system that squeezes every drop out of an athlete and then leaves them on their own. My team and I have already started to change that." As our conversation comes to an end, he says: "In my prayers, I ask God for the strength to walk my path with dignity, if I am worthy of it. Ukrainians now share one wish: for the war and the suffering to end. Otherwise, my life is just fine. My dreams came true long ago."
Photo: Charlie Gray
Style: David Bradshaw
EIC: Vena Brykalin
Art director: Sergii Kovalyov
Creative Director: Marta Bertman
Interview: Anna Zolotariova
Grooming: Sasha Vetrova
Production: Mariia Nikolaienko, Marina Sandugei-Shyshkina
Gaffer: Michel Azyabin
Post-production: INK
Location Manager: Artem Matsiukh
Stylist Assistants: Isabella Peerutin, Yuliia Ostapchuk
Production Assistant: Daryna Skakun