Near midnight under Wembley’s stands, Oleksandr Usyk twirled his moustache and pondered what keeps him operating after dismantling Daniel Dubois to regain once more the undisputed heavyweight crown. It is not motivation, he said. It is discipline. Motivation flares and fades; discipline drags you from bed when comfort begs otherwise. In his view, amateurs lean on feelings; professionals submit to structure. That iron habit fuels both his boxing and his duty to speak about the suffering of wartime Ukraine, even when he would rather laugh and dance.
He had not seen his wife or their four children for fourteen weeks. Camp life meant sharing one house with fourteen teammates, the same faces every day. Tired and wanting to leave, he still stayed, listened, and often answered “good question” before responding in English. Discipline, again.
He joked that motivation is for amateurs who might train three times a week and skip sessions when mood dips; professionals, he said, do the work whether they feel like it or not. The same standard applies when addressing grim topics of death and grief back home. He would prefer lighter conversations, yet feels compelled to stay focused and keep telling the world what Russia’s war is doing to Ukraine.
Breaking the sport to basics, Usyk told reporters boxing offers only three punches: jab, hook, uppercut. Mastery lies in the permutations. Years of drilling turn simple tools into layered patterns. The shimmering set‑up that dropped Dubois in round five created the lane for the closing overhand left, a refinement born from lessons in their first meeting in August 2023 and honed across two years.
That finisher carries a nickname: “Ivan.” Demonstrating, Usyk snapped a model left hook, then exaggerated the arcing, clubbing blow that ended matters, hunching into the shape of a hulking village farmhand. “Ivan,” he laughed, is the big guy who hits like a hammer—raw muscle grafted onto elite craft.
Speculation about future opponents washed over him. First comes rest; months of camp had shrunk life to repetition. When Jake Paul had earlier climbed into the ring, Usyk chuckled that he would oblige after a break.
He closed by reflecting on faith, mortality, family and gratitude. Britain, site of his Olympic gold and many championship nights, he called a second home. Arms raised, head bowed, he slipped into the wet London dark: a champion sustained not by fleeting sparks of motivation but by relentless, joyful discipline.
