‘My soul belongs to God and my body to my country’ – Heavyweight Boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk says after joining Ukrainian defense battalion

Heavyweight Boxing champion, Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy has revealed how he plans to conquer the Russian military alongside his fellow Ukranian citizens after he conquered the world with his fists.

After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Usyk , 35 traveled into Ukraine, took up arms and joined a territorial defense battalion.

Speaking via a video link from a basement in Kyiv, Usyk says that he’s prepared to take a life, if necessary if it means defending his country in the current war.

“If they will want to take my life, or the lives of my close ones, I will have to do it,” he said to CNN. 

“But I don’t want that. I don’t want to shoot, I don’t want to kill anybody, but if they will be killing me, I will have no choice.”

Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, helped him in the interview as he translated for Usyk, who doesn’t speak English.

 Usyk says that he isn’t afraid despite the situation in Ukraine where Russia has started bombing residential areas and using vacuum bombs in Ukrainian citiesñ.

“Maybe, it’ll sound sentimental,” he explained, “but my soul belongs to the Lord and my body and my honor belong to my country, to my family. So there is no fear, absolutely no fear. There’s just bafflement — how could this be in the 21st century?”

Speaking about how the skills of boxing has helped him defend himself and his family at such a crucial moment, he said;

“It has helped me to be calm and mentally prepared,” he said, “And it helps me to help others who are panicking and nervous.”

Oleksandr Usyk was outside of the country when Russia invaded; Usyk had been in London, shooting sequences for an upcoming video game.

He was intending to fly home just hours after the hostilities had commenced, but with the airports closed, he instead flew to Warsaw in Poland and drove almost 500 miles back home and over the border to Kyiv.

Usyk won his heavyweight title belts in a superb display in September 2021 defeating former champion Anthony Joshua to become the IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO world heavyweight champion.