By Alexey Sukachev, Photos by Piotr Duszczyk/ringpolska.pl

Krzysztof Glowacki’s head shook badly under fire in round eleven, as Olexander Usyk unleashed another lightning-fast combo of unanswered punches, almost all of them landing flush to the Pole’s skull. Thanks to his durability and will, Glowacki stood firm, being wobbled just slightly, and continued his fruitless attempts to win the round.

In the end, Glowacki earned just seven of the thirty-six possible rounds on all the judges' scorecards to mark his first ever defeat.

Usyk’s advantage was physically felt, his presence was visibly overwhelming to the extent that even a Polish ringside scorer (former middleweight contender Grzegorz Proksa), surely biased, was forced to give it to the Ukrainian with (surely) an inadequate score: 114-116.

This fight wasn’t even close. 117-111 scorecards (racked up by veteran Brit Mickey Vann and Hungarian Ferenc Budai) were too generous for the defending champion, while 119-109 (from American Adalaide Byrd) – supported by the BoxingScene – was right on point.

It wasn’t a shocking surprise. In fact, 29-year old Usyk was a pre-fight favorite (2-to-1 in some circle) with many bookmakers. It was a sign of appreciation and also a sign of how high the expectations were. The Ukrainian lived up to them, given the fact he was fighting the TBRB #2 cruiserweight in the world in his backyard.

Glowacki’s standing was confirmed both by his previous undefeated career before his title reign and by his major wins over Marko Huck in a 2015 Fight of the Year candidate and his first title defense against Steve 'USS' Cunningham in April of this year. Usyk was just 9-0, 9 KOs (against the 26-0, 16 KOs champion), going in, almost all of his wins being scored in native Ukraine against second-tier opponents. His Olympic gold medal was an X factor to be re-evaluated in his first real test as a pro – which also came in his first title fight.

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With all that said, Usyk’s commanding performance and a dominant win led up to several striking conclusions and marked new trends both in the cruiserweight division and in boxing as a whole.

Conclusion 1: Usyk is for real

It’s obvious. Beating a #2 (and even number 1 by some sources) fighter in his weight class and on his home turf can rarely be more sound a victory.

Glowacki’s chances had been rapidly evaporated in just three rounds. Usyk was slightly better in the first, a bit more dominant in the second and visibly overwhelmed his opponent in the third. The fourth was closer, and was arguably the only round Glowacki had really won. After that, it was all Usyk.

Usyk’s way up was a walk in the park to be honest. He fought through a string of South Africans (Johnny Muller, Danie Venter and Daniel Bruwer) with visible ease; victories over durable Russian Andrey Knyazev and Cuban Pedro Rodriguez were hardly more challenging. But his fight against the defending WBO beltholder should have been a major leap up in class. It turned out to be just another variety of and already learned lesson. And the exam he took - he passed with flying colours.

In the meantime, the newly crowned champion broke a long-standing divisional record of Evander Holyfield, who has captured his first (WBA) cruiserweight title in just twelve fights.

Conclusion 2: We have a new Klitschko in da house!

Yes, we have a new one. Watching his protégé from a ringside seat, former WBC heavyweight champion and reigning Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko was certainly glad to find a magic mirror with an ability to restore youth to the present.

In that way, Usyk looked very much like the younger of the K2 brothers. Ten years off, he was a southpaw copy of Wladimir Klitschko with the same high-quality jab, less-frequent use of a major power punch (either a right hook or a straight left hand) but with a better footwork (much better than the most recent version of Wladimir – for sure).

It’s to be said that Usyk wasn’t running on his back foot. He was circling around Glowacki, peppering him with a jab and adding right hooks on occasion. The Pole had two options to prevent Usyk from executing his plan. He should have been either (A) more resilient with his power pressure or (B) landed bigger punches. Krzysztof was too slow (in comparison with Usyk) to execute (A), and Usyk showed a quality chin to withstand (B) on those rare occasions, when Glowacki hit him cleanly.

One should clearly understand: Usyk is NOT your first choice for a fan-friendly banger (even despite his almost perfect record). Just as a virtual third Klitschko brother, he will prefer effectiveness over showboating, and will take a risk only when this risk is overcalculated numerous times. It can lead us to tedious, boring fights against truly dangerous opponents – just maybe of course – but cruiserweight division isn’t shimmering with a nebula of talent, so against lesser opponents more pleasant and thrilling parts of Usyk will surely be showcased.

As Glowacki was his toughest opponent to date, and with stakes raised up so high, the Ukrainian had no other choice but to apply a more methodical and a reserved approach for lesser risks taken.

Trend 3: We have a new generation of Ukrainian stars

Like so many former Soviet republics – with maybe Russia and Kazakhstan being the exceptions – the Ukraine amateur boxing system live in cycles. The previous peak had been reached in mid- and late-90’s, when several major Ukrainian amateur stars signed with Universum Boxing Promotions, entering the pro game. Aside aforementioned K2 Brothers, there were several others:

• future WBA bantamweight champion (2005-2008) Wladimir Sidorenko (2000 flyweight bronze medalist and two-time European champion,

• future WBA light welterweight king (2008-2009) Andrey Kotelnik (2000 lightweight gold medalist),

• and WBO light middleweight long-time (2005-2011) beltholder Sergey Dzinziruk (1996 Olympian and 1997 WC silver medalist).

Mid-to-late 00’s were less successful for the Ukrainians but the very end of the last decade and the beginning of a new one were lit up by a constellation of real prodigies, who won four gold medals during 2011 World Championship and two gold medals during 2012 London Olympics.

In three years (starting from Taras Shelestyuk in 2012) they have all made transition to paid ranks, ending with Denis Berinchyk. Those two the most talented have already got their accolades, 2012 Olympic champion and 2011 world champion Usyk being the second one. Leading the field surely is arguably the biggest talent the amateur game has ever produced in a two-time world (2009 and 2011) and a two-time Olympic (2008 and 2012) gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs), already a two-division beltholder. At least, three more are getting closer to a title level:

• WBC #4 light heavyweight Olexander Gvozdyk (11-0, 9 KOs) – 2012 London bronze medalist;

• WBC #3 middleweight Ievgen Khytrov (14-0, 12 KOs) – 2011 world champion;

• IBF #4 middleweight Sergey Derevyanchenko (9-0, 7 KOs) – not an official part of the squad but a counterpart of Khytrov, who was no less successful in an amateur game, specifically in the World Series of Boxing (going 23-1 there).

Two more are at a greater distance but still are undefeated:

• Light middleweight Taras Sehelestyuk (14-0, 9 KOs) – 2011 world champion and 2012 London bronze medalist

• Light welterweight Denis Berinchik (4-0, 3 KOs) – 2011 and 2012 silver medalist.

Trend 4: 2008 Olympic squad is the weakest

Indeed, it is. Just compare Olympic champion of 2008 class with those from 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

2004 Athens Olympics:

• 11 weight classes

• 4 future titleholders among Olympic champions (Yuriorkis Gamboa, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Andre Ward and Alexander Povetkin)

• 3 more among other medalists (+ Vitaliy Tajbert, Amir Khan and Gennady Golovkin)

• 2 future HOFers (Ward and Golovkin)

2008 Beijing Olympics:

• 11 weight classes

• 2 future titleholders among Olympic champions (Vasyl Lomachenko and James DeGale)

• 1 more among other medalists (+ Deontay Wilder)

2012 London Olympics:

• 10 weight classes

• 3 future titleholders among Olympic champions (Vasyl Lomachenko, Olexander Usyk and Anthony Joshua)

It’s to be noted that eight years is more than enough for a fighter to achieve his best result as a pro. But given that it takes no less than two years even for a talented amateur (if his first name isn’t Vasyl) to receive a world title shot, the 2012 Olympic class still has its future ahead (and aforementioned Gvozdyk, Berinczyk and Shelestyuk will surely be mentioned alongside Falcao brothers and Ryota Murata). The same cannot be said of 2008 Beijing alumni. And don’t forget that 00’s have one weight class more than the 10’s. It looks like the bottom has been reached in 2008.

Conclusion 5: Usyk will not stay for long as a cruiserweight

Glowacki was the second-best world cruiserweight going into the Usyk fight. Showing extreme confidence, solid skills and getting a wide decision win the Ukrainian will receive the same recognition and cruiserweight presence as his beaten opponent.

So what is ahead of him? The standard alphabet life cycle doesn’t present Usyk with an opportunity to get a worthy opponent. The only dangerous choice is Latvian power banger Mairis Briedis but he will head the WBC route. Damir Beljo? Micky Nielsen? Noel Gevor? Pablo Farias? Ehhmm…

The only challenge for Usyk, which is really worth of looking at, is a unification against WBA / IBF 200lb titleholder Denis Lebedev, a mighty and an experienced banger, who combines dynamite in his gloves with solid technique and durability. But the prospect of this fight doesn’t fully belong to the field of the sport. When one sports the golden trident on his trunks, and the other wears a blue beret (an attribute of Russian airborne troops), national symbolism is affected. And this is twice as painful when two rival nations are at the very bottom of their historical curve.

National symbols cannot be on the losing end. This means a direct match-up between two best cruiserweights from neighboring countries – a fascinating opportunity for real boxing fans – can be delayed, maybe to a point where one of them will lose to a third-party.

If not, or if a delay will be too long, Usyk will battle a mighty temptation to move up in weight. His physical stature (6’3’’ height and 78’’ wingspan) coupled with his age and natural talent allows for a solid run in the sport’s most famed weight class. Time will tell whether Usyk heads in this direction or takes a different route.