Oleksandr Usyk is now the WBO cruiserweight champion after dethroning Krzysztof Glowacki by unanimous decision in the defending champion’s native Poland.
The scorecards read 119-109, 117-111 and 117-111.
It was a masterful 12 rounds from Usyk, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist. It marked the Ukrainian’s 10th professional bout, making him the quickest to ever claim a cruiserweight belt.
The discrepancy in speed was apparent from the onset. A silky smooth jab left Usyk’s shoulders with regularity in Round 1. Glowacki, a slugger through and through, tried to maintain control but his challenger’s footwork left him chasing ghosts for the majority of the fight.
An accidental clash of heads opened up a cut above Glowacki’s right eye in the third period. And Usyk’s crafty punch selection didn’t help the blemish.
Glowacki did have minor success, though, leveling shots to Usyk’s body in the first half of the fight. It was a smart move to slow the Ukrainian down. He finally tracked down the nimble challenger in Rounds 4 and 5. Slashing right and left hooks crashed into Usyk and were often followed by uppercuts.
The defending champion found little success after that.
Usyk piled up round after round bewildering his opponent with pristine ring generalship. Thudding jabs met Glowacki’s face often and before he could react, Usyk would slide away to safety or often entirely behind Glowacki. His head movement and agile feet are just unfair for any 200-pound man.
It takes a real talent to outclass Glowacki like that. The Polack was the consensus No. 2 cruiser in the world behind Denis Lebedev after crushing Marco Huck in 2015 and defending his belt against Steve Cunningham in April.
Usyk, of course, was on another level. His punch output left a bit to be desired but his feet were fresh as ever in the 12th as they were in the first. He never stood still. His accuracy was terrific. Right and left straights split Glowacki’s guard from every angle. In the final round, a smashing uppercut put Glowacki on the ropes, and the two slugged away until the bell rang.
This was Usyk’s first real challenge as a professional. His amateur pedigree is well documented, including giving up as much as 30 pounds in the World Series of Boxing super heavyweight tournament.
Usyk went 6-0 there and is now 10-0 in the paid ranks. He and his bestfriend Vasyl Lomachenko are making real waves in the game after just a handful of professional fights.
Usyk should have an easier time finding opponents than Lomachenko, though, for the land of cruiserweights always delivers the best versus the best.
