Usyk's Trainer Wants To Crown Him Champ at Two Weights
By Vadim Pushkin
Veteran trainer James Ali Bashir has big goals for rising cruiserweight superstar Oleksandr Usyk (9-0, 9KOs).
The boxer stepped in the ring three times in 2015, stopped Andrey Knyazev in eight rounds in April, Johnny Muller in three rounds in August and earlier this month he knocked out one-time heavyweight contender Pedro Rodriguez in seven rounds.
The Olympic gold medal winner is already the mandatory challenger to newly crowned WBO world champion Krzysztof Glowacki, who captured the belt a few months ago with a spectacular knockout victory over Marco Huck. The Polish champion is overcoming some injuries from that fight and expects to return to the ring in the very near future.
There are already expectations to see Usyk make his American debut. He was originally sign with Top Rank, but decided on going with K2 Promotions in Ukriane.
"Oleksandr chose me to be the head trainer of his team and for that I respect him very much. I respect that, because he chose me out of all the coaches in the world. He wants me to be an important person in his life. He has expectations that I have to justify it. And I'll do it. I'll do it for as long as I can and until I die and disappear from this earth. I have an ambition to make him the undisputed champion of the world, not only at cruiserweight, but in the heavyweight division," Bashir said.
