Usyk train in freezing snow to prepare for Anthony Joshua rematch
Oleksandr Usyk has channelled his inner Rocky by shadow boxing in the snow.
The unified heavyweight champion is currently preparing for his rematch with Anthony Joshua in his homeland of Ukraine.
But he took some time out of his regime to shadow box in the blistering cold on what appeared to be a snow-covered hill.
Usyk shared footage of himself throwing combinations in a thick jacket as a fan blew an icy storm in his face.
Slick southpaw Usyk ended Joshua’s second reign as unified heavyweight champion last September with a masterclass at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The pair’s second dance was initially slated to take place in late March but is now being targeted for April.
AJ promoter Eddie Hearn revealed this week: “I think April is realistic for that fight.
“Before you know it, it’s going to be February and these fights take a lot of organising.”
read also:Rumpus in Man Utd as Ronaldo holds crisis talks with agent
Usyk had hoped to make the first defence of his unified titles on home soil, although his second clash with AJ is likely to place in the UK.
Hearn continued: “For us the preferred date and venue for that fight will be the UK, in which case we would have to do the fight outside, so we’re not really interested in doing that fight in March.
“AJ has been training relatively solidly since the fight.
“Realistically if you start your training camp in February, even April becomes quite tight but that is the preferred date for the fight and I think that’s realistic.”
Former undisputed cruiserweight king Usyk noticed some peculiar behaviour from Joshua when analysing him ahead of their first showdown.
He said: “I did notice that he was quite tired after the fight [in September].
“I noticed that before the first fight with Ruiz, he looked strange. But I don’t think about why it happens.
“Maybe it’s for some internal reasons. I don’t want to think about the reasons.
“The hands on the ropes, it was not quite that unusual – there might be very different reasons for that.
“I was more surprised because he was kind of distracted, chewing on the mouthguard like he was.
“That’s why I thought it was strange, but everybody behaves in their own way.”