‘I trained with Oleksandr Usyk – this is what makes him the best in the world’

Very few have had the privilege of training with the great Oleksandr Usyk, but rising star Viktor Jurk holds such bragging rights.

For years, the Ukrainian two-division undisputed champion has played his cards very close to his chest, relying on his inner circle to help him prepare for major world title fights. The 39-year-old will return to the ring on Saturday night against kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven over in Egypt.

Many have questioned the decision to pit the boxing great against such a novice of the sport, but if anyone has deserved it – it’s Usyk. The Ukrainian behemoth will put his heavyweight belts on the line at the Pyramids of Giza, and while Verhoeven has only had one professional fight in the squared-circle, Usyk is still leaving no stone unturned.

The boxing icon is known for his unorthodox training methods, but rarely gives much away while in camp. The 39-year-old spends weeks away over in Valencia, Spain, and the cameras are very much off, as the team dial in. But what is it like to train with the boxing legend?

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Oleksandr Usyk will fight Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza on May 23 and boxing fans can watch the fight live on DAZN PPV for £27.99 and get one month of DAZN standard for free.

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The heavyweight great enlisted the help of Jurk ahead of his rematch with Tyson Fury back in December 2024. Jurk – a 6ft 8in man mountain – was tasked with mimicking Fury’s fighting style, as the ‘Gypsy King’ often switches to southpaw. Whatever the German giant did behind closed doors, it seemed to pay off in a big way as Usyk picked up his second win over the Morecambe scrapper after a razor-thin decision victory in Saudi Arabia.

Having sparred with the likes of Usyk, Derek Chisora, and Anthony Joshua over the years, Jurk has revealed exactly what makes Usyk’s camp so special and unquestionably the best in the world. “Sergey Lapin (a member of Team Usyk) messaged me because we have a close friend from both sides. And he asked me if I can come to the sparring, and I said, ‘Yeah, let’s have a try,'” he exclusively told Mirror Fighting.

“And I really, to be honest, Usyk camp is the best camp. The best places to sleep… everything is very good. They pay you proper money. They make sure everything is good. You have great gym access and everyone is cool. And I learned a lot. I learned how I was looking, how he trains, I had some insights behind the scene. I could see something then more than the camera shows. So, yeah, it’s cool. It’s a blessing, to be honest.”

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Being in the same room as Usyk quite simply left Jurk starstruck, but the facilities and access he had during his time well and truly shaped him into the boxer he is today. The German sensation announced himself on the world stage last week after the undefeated star rendered his opponent unconscious in the first second of the fight.

On trading leather with Usyk, Jurk added: “When you spar someone like him, you don’t learn a lot from sparring. You learn more from the training camp. You learn how he trains. How how can you learn something from three or four rounds? How? That’s not possible, right? Because he goes like the distance. You learn by yourself if you go 15 rounds of sparring, then you learn. But if you do just three rounds, all right, you do some proper work with Usyk, but that’s it. He’s going he went before that probably seven rounds with some other guys. You’re fresh, he not. So, it’s a big difference if you step in both and do seven rounds, then it’s learning.”

And ahead of the ‘Cat’s’ return, Jurk was quick to offer his verdict on the heavyweight showdown in Egypt. “He should win this fight. AJ won against Francis Ngannou in two rounds, but AJ’s a big puncher. I think that Usyk will win the same way he knocked Tony Bellew out. He just make him tired,” he said.

Usyk is no stranger when it comes to showing off his rather unique and bizarre training regime – but there is a method to the madness. The 39-year-old’s training camps tends to feature modern sports science and rigorous cognitive conditioning. Led by a specialised team, his daily regime largely focuses on footwork, explosive strength and mental processing.

Rather than strength, there is a real focus on the physiological and psychological side of the game. During hard days in the gym, it is not uncommon for the icon to be tasked with solving a Schulte table – a grid filled with numbers or letters that need to be ordered into a specific sequence.

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Another big hit with Team Usyk is juggling balls. Yes, you read that correctly. The purpose is to keep the heavyweight fighter’s mind focused as he recovers from a period of cardio training. The systematic procedures seemed to pay dividends in the hard-hitter’s last outing – a knockout win over Daniel Dubois last July.

“We create the optimal psychological environment for cognitive exercise,” Jakub Chycki, Usyk’s physiologist, told BBC Sport ahead of the rematch with Dubois. “We combine the air bike with a memory exercise. Sometimes we use lights for this task and sometimes we combine with hand-eye coordination or juggling.”

He added: “We know everything about Usyk’s physiology and how his body works under different stresses. We know how we should read his signals and symptoms. We didn’t change anything. We have a round table every Saturday and look at what we’ve done and what needs to change. We don’t change to the opponents’ strategy.”

As Anthony Joshua prepares for his return to the ring this summer, the former two-time heavyweight world champion has enlisted the help of Usyk – in a bid to just sharpen his toolbox a little bit more before his all-British clash with Tyson Fury later this year. ‘AJ’ will first take on unknown fighter Kristian Prenga on July 25 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Much to the surprise of many, Joshua has linked up with Usyk – despite their feud in the past. They seemed to have buried the hatchet and are now good friends, as the Ukrainian now passes on his wisdom to the British scrapper. But just because they are close friends, that does not mean the Ukrainian is going light on ‘AJ’ in training.

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The Brit’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, recently recalled the impact Usyk is having on his fellow Olympic champion. “When I was there, he’d be doing these circuits, like he’s doing these tempo sprints,” Hearn said. “Most people do those sprints on their own, with nothing else attached; he would do his sprints, then he’d go over and do this kettlebell circuit, then he’d do the sledge – with this f***ing big fitness trainer standing on the sledge. Then he’d go back into the sprints. I’m like: ‘What the f***?’

“When he started, I went to the guy: ‘How many are you doing?’ He went, ‘Three, because he’s just coming back to training.’ I went, ‘Three, is that all?’ because I thought that was all he was doing. He went: ‘OK, we’ll do five.’ AJ went: ‘F***, mate, you’re never coming back!’

“AJ was all out on his heart rate and Usyk was going: ‘Push, push, push.’ I’m watching, going: ‘This is f***ing unbelievable, what I’m seeing.’ You’ve got the pound-for-pound No 1, you’ve got the guy who he beat twice – who’s probably the biggest star in the sport – and it’s incredible. So, what he’s going to get out of it is going to be amazing. I’ve always been confident he beats Tyson Fury, but I’m so sure he beats Tyson Fury.”