Oleksandr Usyk signs deal with professional football club after friendly debut

20 July 2023 , 12:23

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Oleksandr Usyk signs deal with professional football club after friendly debut

Oleksandr Usyk has signed a professional football contract with Ukrainian Premier League side FC Polissya Zhytomyr ahead of the new season.

The unified world heavyweight champion is currently working towards his second defence of his three belts against Daniel Dubois on August 26 in Poland. But he has agreed to a deal which could see him make his competitive football debut for the Ukrainian side, whom he represented in a recent friendly match.

Yesterday, the club announced he will be wearing the No.17 jersey and has agreed to a full deal that could see him included in the squad for a game this season. Last year, they won promotion into Ukraine's top flight and are now aiming to attract new fans with the gimmick signing.

"The president of the club Hennadiy Butkevich and Oleksandr Usyk concluded an official agreement on football cooperation for one year," a statement from the club released yesterday read. "Usyk will perform under No.17. Expect other details of the contract later."

Usyk is back in action this August after a year out of the ring following his rematch with Anthony Joshua last summer in Saudi Arabia. He earned a massive eight-figure payout to fight in Jeddah, and retained his belts against the hard-hitting Brit despite being the much smaller man.

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Now, fans are clamouring to see the Ukrainian face Tyson Fury in an undisputed title bout that would make history as the first in the four belt era. However, the Brit is signed up to face UFC champion Francis Ngannou in a crossover fight this October, meaning both men will need to get through another fight before negotiations can begin again.

Oleksandr Usyk has agreed to join FC Polissya (FC Polissya)

Will you tune in for Oleksandr Usyk's professional football debut? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

Former super-middleweight world champion Carl Froch has claimed that Fury has admitted in private messages that he is being paid more for his fight with Ngannou than he would have been for an undisputed bout. He has not provided proof of their exchange, but claims that the Brit told him he had taken a massive money offer.

“Listen, it’s about the money," Froch told talkSPORT Boxing about the Ngannou bout. "'It’s the biggest fight in heavyweight boxing,’ that’s what he said to me. I said, ‘You’re going to be getting paid more for this fight than any other fight you would’ve taken? A bigger fight than Oleksandr Usyk?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, it’s a bigger fight; I’m getting paid more than I would’ve got.’”

Donagh Corby