The holder of the IBF, WBO, WBA and IBO heavyweight titles Oleksandr Usyk admitted that the appeals of the Ukrainian Armed Forces motivate him on the eve of the second fight with Anthony Joshua.

" These are the people who motivate me.. They protect our independence, freedom, culture from those who want to destroy and destroy us, who do not want us to exist..

When I say something, my words and actions coincide. I'm not a politician, but an athlete. I just want to see my kids who are in Europe now. I haven't seen them for almost half a year, so I want to hug them and have dinner with them. And then I will return to Kyiv,"

In addition, the Ukrainian boxer noted that it serves as a motivation for him in life.. According to Sasha, this is by no means money..

" Perhaps, among all the resources, they are the easiest to earn.. My goal is to spend my life in such a way as to be useful to the world in which I live.. You can't just keep putting money in your pocket and doing everything for yourself.. When you die there will be no pockets in your coffin.

When you stand before your final judge, only your true deeds will count.. Not how much you earned, but what you really did,"

The second fight between Usyk and Joshua will take place on August 20 in the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.. In June, the official announcement of revenge between the Ukrainian and the British took place.

Recall that on the night of September 26, 2021, Usyk defeated Joshua in London by unanimous decision - 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113, and won the IBF, WBO, WBA and IBO heavyweight titles. After that, the Briton activated the option of revenge, prescribed in the contract for the first fight..

So in the rematch, all the titles that the Ukrainian took away from the Briton last year, as well as the belt of The Ring magazine, will be at stake..

The 35-year-old Usyk has 19 wins (13 by knockout) in 19 fights. He held three of them in the heavyweight division..

Before that, Alexander became the absolute world champion in the cruiserweight (weight category up to 90.7 kg), having won all four of the most prestigious belts there..

Joshua, 32, has 24 wins (22 by KO) and two losses.. For the first time, AJ lost in June 2019 to Andy Ruiz, but in December of the same year he defeated the Mexican in a rematch and regained his titles.

Previously, TSN Prosport talked about what you need to know about the rematch between Usyk and Joshua.