Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight world title rematch with Oleksandr Usyk has been thrown into doubt, after the Ukrainian joined his country’s defence against the Russian invasion.
Ukraine’s boxers have stepped up in solidarity with their countrymen, since Russia declared war on the country last week, and have signed up to help.
Vasyl Lomachenko returned to the country last week to fight, whilst former heavyweight champions Vitaly and Wladimir Klitschko also said they’d stand together in the fight against Vladimir Putin’s troops.
Usyk, who put out an appeal to Russia to end the invasion, has also joined his fellow boxers, despite currently being the WBA, IBF and WBO world champion.
Now the 35-year-old has confirmed his involvement in the battle and thrown his summer rematch with Joshua into doubt, giving no timeline of when he’ll be back in the ring.
“I really don’t know when I’m going to be stepping back in the ring,” the 2012 Olympic champion told CNN.
“My country and my honor are more important to me than a championship belt.”
Usyk was a winner by unanimous decision back in September last year, when they met at Wembley, becoming the second man to beat Joshua for the world titles.
It was an incredible performance from the Ukrainian, who was in only his third fight at heavyweight, having previously been the undisputed cruiserweight champion.
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