Comments Thread For: Usyk Not Interested in Povetkin Due To Political Overtones

[angkag]

Usyk is a Slav as well and he and Povetkin belong to the same ethnic group.

.

Just to complicate things further, Usyk is a Cossack (remember the early hair style ?), and the Cossacks have a long and difficult history with Russia.

[kafkod]

he.... already fought Gassiev I don't get it.

If I had to guess it'll be a result of something in the Russian or Ukrainian press.

Also Povetkin's a Russian fighting out of Russia whereas Murat is a Caucasian (an ethnic minority in Russian eyes) based in the US. I also get the impression Sasha's a lil bit of a posterboy for Russian nationalism... though I ain't got time now to figure what led me to that conclusion - sure I heard something though.

EDIT: Something to do with Sasha's tattoos or smthing..

Ah here we go.. I can't speak for the impartiality of the article but there is something of a history of sporting events involving Russian athletes coming with an added political dimension...

https://worldsportnews.org/2018/09/1...t-in-the-ring/

Gassiev is an Ossetian not a Russian there is an ethnic difference. The ossestians are more related to Iranians and other true Caucasus peoples and are often referred to as “blacks” by Slavic Russians of the north. Big difference between povetkin (who also follows the folk religion of the Slavic peoples and is a huge Slavic nationalist) and Gassiev. Even the names are different. This is literally like taking a white American and a Mexican American and calling them the same.

Povetkin is into some sort of Russian folk religion that has elements of Russian nationalism. I agree with Usyk, this match would not be a good idea...

When the venue for the WBSS final was switched from Jedda to Moscow, Usyk initially said that he wouldn't fight Gassiev in Moscow because of the political situation between Russia and Ukraine, and he was very definite about that. Then something happened to make him change his mind.

It could have been the way the media in the 2 countries reacted to the situation, or maybe the 2 camps spoke in private and agreed to keep politics out of it. Maybe a combination of both. Watching behind the scenes documentaries about the fight at the WBSS YT channel, I was struck by the respect, sportsmanship, and even affection, displayed by the fighters towards each other. It looked to me as if they were both making a conscious attempt to bring their respective fan bases together, rather than set them against each other.

I don't think Gassiev's ethnicity was a factor, but Povetkin's Russian nationalism and political support for ***** almost certainly is. Usyk is a Slavic Cossack, btw, and belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church, like Povetkin.

[kafkod]

lame. Ugysk would have embarrassed AJ by defeating Povetkin better than AJ did. Would be the second cruiserweight to defeat an opponent better than AJ.

Everyone knows AJ's stock has dropped off.

Which cruiserweight are you talking about?

[BangEM]

Just to complicate things further, Usyk is a Cossack (remember the early hair style ?), and the Cossacks have a long and difficult history with Russia.

If he's a Cossack and from Crimea, then he's obviously avoiding Povetkin because the risk isn't worth it. The Cossacks fought alongside the Russians against Ukraine in the annexation of Crimea.

Or it might be a case whereby he doesn't want to get involved in the political tensions in the country since he's from Crimea. Usyk is more Russian than Ukrainian if he's a Cossack and I'm sure he speaks Russian fluently.

[Andrij]

Just to complicate things further, Usyk is a Cossack (remember the early hair style ?), and the Cossacks have a long and difficult history with Russia.

Exactly. We have a 700 year long cultural, political and economical war with Moscow.

[Andrij]

If he's a Cossack and from Crimea, then he's obviously avoiding Povetkin because the risk isn't worth it. The Cossacks fought alongside the Russians against Ukraine in the annexation of Crimea.

Or it might be a case whereby he doesn't want to get involved in the political tensions in the country since he's from Crimea. Usyk is more Russian than Ukrainian if he's a Cossack and I'm sure he speaks Russian fluently.

These are fake Russian Cossacks. The real Cossacks are only in Ukraine my friend. The Zaporozhian Cossacks.

[angkag]

Usyk is a Slavic Cossack, btw, and belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church, like Povetkin.

Yes, at the risk of dumbing things down a bit, the Cossacks have historically been the kind of Spartans of the region, a sort of military class that has been of use to whichever side they fight on in the endless wars in the region.

The Cossack history with russia is a bloody one - the word Decossackisation exists for a reason. Plus Yalta at the end of WWII where Cossacks figthing for the ****s were repatriated back to Russia by the British - most either executed immediately or straight into the Gulag system - Sean Bean's character in the James Bond movie Goldeneye is a descendant of a Cossack bent on destruction of the UK economy because of the British betrayal of the Cossacks at Yalta.

[Banderivets]

If he's a Cossack and from Crimea, then he's obviously avoiding Povetkin because the risk isn't worth it. The Cossacks fought alongside the Russians against Ukraine in the annexation of Crimea.

Or it might be a case whereby he doesn't want to get involved in the political tensions in the country since he's from Crimea. Usyk is more Russian than Ukrainian if he's a Cossack and I'm sure he speaks Russian fluently.

Just stop...you are trying to enlighten people here without proper knowledge.

Cossack history is complicated, the real Cossacks originated in and are Ukrainian and always have been. They are not an ethnic group, stop reading wikipedia you can simply become a Cossack, there are no racial/ethnic barriers to entry.

For your knowledge being a Cossack is the quintessence of being Ukrainian so I don't know how you made the Usyk is more Russian than Ukrainian connection because he's a "cossack" it would actually be the opposite. Go look at the lyrics of the Ukrainian anthem...

"We will lay our soul and body for the cherished freedom.
Cossack blood will raise the nation of the joyous people."


Usyk is a Russian speaking Ukrainian, which means jack ****, half the country speaks Russian that's just the result of the Russification of the Ukrainian people that took place during the times of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.

Most of the soldiers fighting in the war today on the Ukrainian side are Russian speakers.

Being a Russian speaking Kazakh or Ukrainian has nothing to do with being affiliated with Russia..........Mexicans and Cuban's don't give a **** about Madrid.

Ukrainians speaking Russian is like the Irish speaking English.

It's quite simple, there are Russians and there are Ukrainians. With Ukrainians its very simple, they are either Russian speakers or Ukrainian speakers, they can be Catholic or Orthodox, they are different ethnicities, all have and always will be.

Russians, well that's a lot more complicated. Many languages, ethnicities, religions...

Ask Khabib if he's Russian? I think the answer will not be all that simple.


That being said, all Usyk is saying that there will simply be too much politics from both sides of the media and it will not be a good sporting event for that reason. He has no beef with Povetkin.

Russian Ukrainian relations are at an all time low and are not looking to improve in the foreseeable future, which is unfortunate so it just doesn't make sense to make this fight.

He also said that he didn't want to fight Gassiev in Moscow, but he had to to get the belts.

[Oldskoolg]

It's the Caucasus, not central Asia - but I meant to ask him the same question... not so many dudes - especially from the US know much about regional issues like that. Dude's **** on though - kinda what I was referring to in my own post but I didn't have time to expand on.

Come to think of it though, I've got an idea he might not be a US dude despite the name... could be he mentioned something about Germany maybe. Can't remember now.

I’m not originally from the USA, but I got here as soon as I could. I have some roots in ancestry in Eastern Europe, but after a career in the Army, one tends to learn a bit about various groups involved in generational conflicts

[Citizen Koba]

I’m not originally from the USA, but I got here as soon as I could. I have some roots in ancestry in Eastern Europe, but after a career in the Army, one tends to learn a bit about various groups involved in generational conflicts

Good to hear, man. It's not really a sleight but an observation that many US dudes tend not to be that aware of this kinda regional issue.