Inside Usyk’s camp: Behind the scenes with a heavyweight champion

GANDIA, Spain — OLEKSANDR USYK HAS done it all: Belts, medals, fame and fortune.

He is a national hero in Ukraine. He has his “0”… He’s undisputed in two divisions and is an Olympic gold medalist. But still, he lives by the motto of his “Ready to Fight” team: “Never enough.” He wants more.

In the quiet town of Gandia on the east coast of Spain, Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) continues chasing more history in another undisputed heavyweight clash, this time against IBF champion Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) on July 19 at London’s Wembley Stadium.

For the Dubois fight, Usyk’s training base has been converted from an old rental car shop. It’s simple enough but has everything he needs. Upstairs, there’s a gym with a ring, a couple of punching bags, some weights and an assault bike. There are, however, personal touches dotted throughout.

Ukrainian flags, a poster with a spartan, and a white concrete wall where members of his team have written messages. Somebody has spray-painted a cat in reference to Usyk’s nickname.

On one side in bold marker pen: “Moskow 2018,” “Saudi 2024”; the two previous times he has been crowned undisputed champion. At the top of the wall: “London 2025.” The team is manifesting another glorious night.

On the lower level on another wall, which has been painted in the blue and yellow of the Ukraine flag, the word “UNDISPUTED” glows from a huge neon sign. More manifestation.

Television screens show footage of various fights on a continuous loop. The first fight between Usyk and Dubois — which Usyk won via knockout in August 2023 — as well as old Dubois bouts through the years burn the screen continuously. Everything in the old shop is geared toward the task at hand.

Downstairs is a wide-open space where people can relax. There are TVs and a PlayStation, which Usyk enjoys playing in his downtime.

There’s a rolling hum of activity with members of his team going about their business; sorting logistics ahead of the fight or assisting members of the media, while some are watching the replay of Usyk-Dubois 1, discussing what they see.

Usyk’s two sons, Mykhailo and Kyrylo, idly pass the time while their dad trains intensely. They miss their mom and sisters who are still in Ukraine.

The boys alternate between shooting a basketball at a temporary hoop that has been brought in for them and kicking a soccer ball against the wall as they try to kill the boredom. Every now and then they stop to look at their dad or the media contingent who have joined them for the day. They make little fuss about anything and keep themselves busy, sometimes wandering upstairs to the gym to sneak a look at the action.

The full magnitude of their father’s greatness might not yet have dawned on them. One day they will know. For now, he’s simply their dad who they have to go to work with on a Saturday morning.

Usyk and countryman light heavyweight Daniel Lapin — hailed as the next boxing star of Ukraine — run up and down the curved staircase which leads to the gym, getting some cardio in.

Their days start at 6 a.m. with session one. Usyk will do two or three in total depending on the day. It’s crucial that training is varied. Running, swimming, cycling, tennis, mental training and cognitive tests as well as sparring all shape Usyk.

In the gym, the two Ukrainian boxers are going through the motions of what they regard as a “lighter” gym session of strength and power training, but it’s explosive. A fast-paced circuit of skipping, assault bike sprints, weights, kettlebell drills and body weight routines, as well as an excruciating exercise where Usyk performs a sit-up while throwing a giant medicine ball against the wall.

To mere mortals, it looks intimidating to say the least.

Does he ever think he’d rather be enjoying the spoils of his success?

“Every day I have moments during training when I just want to be on the beach with my wife, holding a bottle in my hand,” Usyk tells ESPN.

But it’s sparring which dominates the schedule; around 60% of his week in early June is spent in the ring.

TODAY IT’S A strength and power routine. Thanks to the sweat oozing from his torso, his purple sleeveless shirt has turned a few shades darker than the light lavender it started the day as.

He performs several minutes of skipping without missing a beat, making it look so easy. Only stints of shadow-boxing and dancing halt his metronomic rhythm. Ukrainian techno music is going and keeps the vibe high amid another day on the grind. Verbal communication between those involved is limited, but the process is seamless.

“Look, mum, I can fly,” Usyk shouts at Lapin while it’s his turn to skip, encouraging his protégé. A quick breather and it’s onto the next. A shift on the assault bike.

“One more minute!” strength and conditioning coach Jakub Chycki yells.

“Look, mum, I can fly,” Usyk says again. This time to himself as he pushes his screaming muscles to keep going. It’s at this point Chycki knows the champ is feeling it.

“[Usyk] always has a lot of energy but usually it’s some kind of mask,” Chycki says. “He’s tired, he’s just human. Of course, [he’s] superhuman. I call him usually ‘Homosapien athleticus.’ He is amazing. But now it’s a very hard time for him.”

The session ends with a moment of quiet reflection as the champion’s heart rate comes down. He kisses a crucifix which has been stuck to his chest with sweat. “Today… Enough,” Usyk says. “But never enough.”

He may be heavyweight champion, but Usyk still wipes down surfaces and packs equipment up himself after training, taking pride in the little things and making sure everything is ready for the next session. He wrings the sweat from his shirt into a bucket and folds it neatly.

Before heading down the stairs, he turns around and bows to a prayer pinned to the weights rack before disappearing to the showers.

DATA IS KING during training camp. Chycki, dubbed “the brains behind,” is also a university professor and has a constant stream of information he gathers from each session. Everything from Usyk’s aerobic capacity to monitoring his brain during sparring.

The “Ready to Fight” (RTF) team behind Usyk also analyze everything meticulously, both in Usyk himself and Dubois.

RTF was co-founded by Usyk and childhood friend, CEO Sergey Lapin. The company will co-promote the fight against Dubois with Queensberry and are expanding their platform into various aspects of the boxing world from analyzing data for fighters to matching them up with sparring partners.

Fight record, punch stats, fighting style and a host of physical attributes are all taken into account. The idea came after a sparring partner of Usyk’s failed to turn up to camp one day. From there, Usyk and Lapin have grown the business and want it to expand to be able to make an impact at all levels of the sport.

But their primary focus right now is Dubois.

“Our analytic department search for the different fights, they try to find weaknesses, strong sides, in order to collect the info to work on it and to give the team the proper analytics so they can see how they can impact the future fights,” Sergey Lapin tells ESPN.

Is the data a not-so-secret weapon for Usyk?

“Yes of course,” Lapin says. “You have a car? This is good for you. You have a bicycle [as well], but a car is better. We have a very good car now.”

Usyk is eager to help develop RTF after his career, which he has admitted is nearing the end. No doubt he will take a well-earned break when it’s all over, but he also struggles, as many elite athletes do, to sit still for too long. Two weeks after his second win over Fury, he was shadowboxing his wife and wanted to be back in the gym.

“Every day I think about my life,” Usyk tells ESPN. “Every day I think about what I’ll do after my professional career ends. Every day I wonder what I’ll do… And I have some plans. I think I’ll play a bit of football.”

Usyk was a keen player when he was young, but boxing is in his soul. He wants to help the next generation of Ukrainian fighters. He says he wants to train a world champion one day.

For now, he is putting the finishing touches to his esteemed career.

A bigger, better Dubois awaits.

Another chance for undisputed, so his manifestation can be etched into the history books, not just the wall of his gym.

He’s getting close to lying on the beach with a bottle of something, but he’s not done yet.