Boxing Champion Oleksandr Usyk Spars Jamaican Ricardo Brown
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Usyk’s team chose Brown because he a physique that is similar to Tyson Fury’s. They wanted a boxer who is approximately 6’ 9” tall and with the ability to hit hard
Jamaican Ricardo Brown was one of the main sparring partners of heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The Jamaican helped him prepare before his last clash against Tyson Fury. Usyk ended up winning the fight and is now the undisputed global champion.
Brown described his time with Usyk as “a great experience that he will never forget.” The sparring sessions happened in Spain and they lasted for one month.
Usyk’s team chose Brown because he a physique that is similar to Tyson Fury’s. They wanted a boxer who is approximately 6’ 9” tall and with the ability to hit hard. The 6’3” tall Usyk came close to knocking out Fury despite being the smaller man. He ended up winning by split decision. The fight happened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Brown weighs 265 pounds and stands at 6’ 7 1/2 “ tall. He has secured 11 victories via knockout and has built a reputation of being a power puncher.
Brown told journalists that he learnt a lot and he enjoyed the assignment immensely. He appreciates the experience because he has always struggled to find good sparring partners. He revealed that is a shortage of heavyweights who are huge enough to offer a legitimate challenge. He said that is Usyk allowed him to the throw hard punches without backing off.
However, in some occasions, he was told to slow down on his power punches in order not to hurt the champion. He was told to focus on specific areas of Usyk’s needs.
He was instructed when to throw uppercuts, head shots and body punches. However, he had to remain defensively sound because Usyk was also swinging back. He described Usyk as a hard-hitting heavyweight who has deceptive power in both hands. He insisted that Usyk could have knocked him out if he didn’t protect himself.
“You don’t expect him to generate a lot of power because he is one of the smaller heavyweight boxers. However, you will feel his impact when he connects. Additionally, he is also an intelligent fighter. I will use some of the skills I learnt from him in future fights,” said Brown.
Brown said that Usyk did enough to win the decision although the fight was very competitive. In fact, he believes that the referee should have stopped the fight in the ninth round. He believes Usyk should have won by technical knockout.
Brown said that he is back in the gym while he waits for his next opponent to be announced. He believes that he will show some improvements because of his experience with Usyk.
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