Oleksandr Usyk was ‘wobbled’ and beaten in amateur fight by former welterweight world champion who fought Terence Crawford
Oleksandr Usyk fell to defeat in the amateurs against former IBF and WBC welterweight champion Shawn Porter. Before Usyk established himself as the best heavyweight of his generation, the Ukrainian slickster started off as a middleweight in the unpaid ranks. Usyk was a middleweight boxer before his exploits at heavyweightGetty In 2006, he met Porter in a USA vs Ukraine amateur tournament that saw 11 fighters from both countries pitted against each other. Despite being considerably shorter and smaller than Usyk, ‘Showtime’ was able to beat the future two-weight undisputed champion on points by a margin of 23-20. Recalling his victory, back when both men were around 20 years old, Porter said on his podcast, The PorterWay: “I’m roughly 5ft 7ins now – I was pretty much that then – Usyk was not as tall as he is now but around 6ft [he was] slim at 165lbs, but he could box. “Back in the day, we were on a point system where three out of five judges had hit a button at the same time in order to get points. “In the amateurs a lot of punches landed, not many points were scored, it is just how it went. “It was a close fight the whole way, it was like a 2 to 3-point spread the whole way. “I don’t remember who was winning each round but I do remember this: going into the last round, my dad was coaching me, and we had this other guy Dan Campbell, he was the 2008 Olympic coach, he’s down on the floor putting the stool in, putting the bucket in, putting the water in. “[He was] not saying too much but going into that fourth round before I walked out and the bell rang, he said ‘Hey, Shawn, if you line him up, he’s there for the right hand – if you throw a straight right, you’ll land it and get him’. “And that’s exactly what happened in the fourth round. We were moving around, we were doing our thing and I landed a right hand on Usyk and he stumbled back. “And [being] Shawn Porter, you already know I jumped on him and ended up winning 23-20. Porter managed to overcome a big height disadvantage to beat UsykGETTY “It was a great fight. That fight, I promise you for an amateur fight it is worth paying for. I remember it was a great competitive fight.” Unfortunately, there is no footage of the fight at the time of writing, although Porter is hoping to get his hands on it. In the years that followed their bout, Porter went on to win the 2007 National Golden Gloves and turned over as a professional a year later after missing out on a spot at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As a pro, Porter became a two-time welterweight world champion before hanging up his gloves in 2021 following a tenth-round stoppage loss to Terence Crawford. Usyk found more success in the amateurs, winning gold at the Worlds, Europeans and 2012 London Olympics. In the paid ranks he continued to thrive as he became the undisputed cruiserweight champion by beating Murat Gassiev in the final of the 2018 World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament. He then achieved the same feat at heavyweight by toppling Tyson Fury in May before defeating him for a second time earlier this month to close out their rivalry in style. Boxing WhatsApp channel Get the latest fight news, reaction and the best opinion from talkSPORT pundits in our Boxing WhatsApp channel. Follow our Boxing channel HERE.
Oleksandr Usyk fell to defeat in the amateurs against former IBF and WBC welterweight champion Shawn Porter.
Before Usyk established himself as the best heavyweight of his generation, the Ukrainian slickster started off as a middleweight in the unpaid ranks.
In 2006, he met Porter in a USA vs Ukraine amateur tournament that saw 11 fighters from both countries pitted against each other.
Despite being considerably shorter and smaller than Usyk, ‘Showtime’ was able to beat the future two-weight undisputed champion on points by a margin of 23-20.
Recalling his victory, back when both men were around 20 years old, Porter said on his podcast, The PorterWay: “I’m roughly 5ft 7ins now – I was pretty much that then – Usyk was not as tall as he is now but around 6ft [he was] slim at 165lbs, but he could box.
“Back in the day, we were on a point system where three out of five judges had hit a button at the same time in order to get points.
“In the amateurs a lot of punches landed, not many points were scored, it is just how it went.
“It was a close fight the whole way, it was like a 2 to 3-point spread the whole way.
“I don’t remember who was winning each round but I do remember this: going into the last round, my dad was coaching me, and we had this other guy Dan Campbell, he was the 2008 Olympic coach, he’s down on the floor putting the stool in, putting the bucket in, putting the water in.
“[He was] not saying too much but going into that fourth round before I walked out and the bell rang, he said ‘Hey, Shawn, if you line him up, he’s there for the right hand – if you throw a straight right, you’ll land it and get him’.
“And that’s exactly what happened in the fourth round. We were moving around, we were doing our thing and I landed a right hand on Usyk and he stumbled back.
“And [being] Shawn Porter, you already know I jumped on him and ended up winning 23-20.
“It was a great fight. That fight, I promise you for an amateur fight it is worth paying for. I remember it was a great competitive fight.”
Unfortunately, there is no footage of the fight at the time of writing, although Porter is hoping to get his hands on it.
In the years that followed their bout, Porter went on to win the 2007 National Golden Gloves and turned over as a professional a year later after missing out on a spot at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
As a pro, Porter became a two-time welterweight world champion before hanging up his gloves in 2021 following a tenth-round stoppage loss to Terence Crawford.
Usyk found more success in the amateurs, winning gold at the Worlds, Europeans and 2012 London Olympics.
In the paid ranks he continued to thrive as he became the undisputed cruiserweight champion by beating Murat Gassiev in the final of the 2018 World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament.
He then achieved the same feat at heavyweight by toppling Tyson Fury in May before defeating him for a second time earlier this month to close out their rivalry in style.
Boxing WhatsApp channel
Get the latest fight news, reaction and the best opinion from talkSPORT pundits in our Boxing WhatsApp channel.
Follow our Boxing channel HERE.
