Oleksandr Usyk is just nine days away from his rematch with Anthony Joshua and the Ukrainian boxer has been training hard behind the scenes.
Usyk is due to face Joshua for a second time on August 20 after taking the British heavyweight’s WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts in an unanimous points decision at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.
Usyk is the favourite to retain his heavyweight titles in Saudi Arabia later this month and his recent body transformation has convinced fans it will be a ‘long night’ for Joshua.
Usyk stunned boxing fans after sharing his new figure on social media. The Ukrainian boxer shared a video clip which outlined the weight he had put on since the original fight, when he weighed in at a career heaviest 221lb.
Many questioned how the 35-year-old went about changing his body ahead of his rematch with AJ… so, Sportsmail have looked at the weird and wonderful training methods the Ukrainian boxer uses.
Usyk has used swimming as a way to get into shape for years and his trainer Anatoly Lomachenko – the father of lightweight boxer Vasyl – has encouraged him to undergo 10k open-air swims to build-up his stamina.
Lomachenko – who is also known for preparing underwater exercises for Usyk – put the heavyweight through a grueling regime ahead of his first fight with Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
Usyk spent five hours a day in the pool swimming laps according to his former opponent Dereck Chisora.
Chisora recalled the time he visited a bathhouse and bumped into Usky. He said: “I was just about to leave the Russian bathhouse that I go to when I am tired and hurt from training.
“The owner told me to wait because he had a surprise,” he said, as reported by UK’s the Sun. I sat down and all I heard was ‘Derek, Deeeerrrrrek’, just like he kept saying during the build-up to our fight.
“I started talking and laughing with him and I told him he looked tired. He then told me he had just finished swimming for five hours.”
“I told him he was lying, he couldn’t swim for five hours,” he added. “But his trainer told me it was true and then showed me a video of him in this huge Olympic pool just going up and down for five hours.”
