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Oleksandr Usyk defeats Daniel Dubois, defends heavyweight titles

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Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk defended the title of unified heavyweight boxing world champion by defeating British boxer Daniel Dubois in a highly anticipated match on Aug. 26 in Wroclaw, Poland.

The victory allowed Usyk to maintain his WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF heavyweight titles.

"I am grateful for my team, my family and my children," Usyk said after the match. "But I am grateful for my country and the Ukrainian army. Thank you so much."

The 36-year-old boxer held heavyweight titles since 2021, when he first defeated Englishman Anthony Joshua. Since then, Usyk has managed to retain the WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO and The Ring belts.

Wroclaw is only a short distance from the Ukrainian border. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian community in Wroclaw has significantly increased. Additionaly, Usyk managed to defend his titles just two days after Ukrainian Independence Day.  


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Rachel Amran

News Editor

Rachel Amran is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked on the Europe and Central Asia team of Human Rights Watch investigating war crimes in Ukraine. Rachel holds a master's degree in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Regional Studies from Columbia University.

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