Below are 10 facts you ought to know about the new unified world heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk.

WuzupNigeria reported that the Ukrainian was crowned heavyweight champion on Saturday after defeating previous holder, Anthony Joshua in London.

1. Full name Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk, he was born on January 17, 1987, in the second-largest city on the Crimean Peninsula, Simferopol. Usyk is a birthday mate with his hero Muhammad Ali.

2. The Ukrainian goes by the nickname ‘The Cat’.

3. The 34-year-old who hailed from a poor background worked on a farm to survive and played football up until he was 15-years-old, according to British Boxing News.

4. Usyk who switched to boxing in 2002 had also ventured into wrestling, hand-to-hand combat, karate.

5. He became a professional boxer at the age of 26 in 2013 and signed a promotional deal with the Klitschko brothers’ K2 Promotions.

6. Usyk made his professional debut on November 9, 2013, defeating Mexican Felipe Romero via fifth-round knockout.

7. He is married to Kateryna with whom he shares three children – Yelizaveta, Kyrylo and Mykhailo.

8. The 34-year-old won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics before claiming heavyweight gold at the London 2012 Olympics.

9. In 2018, Usyk was named Sports Illustrated ‘Fighter of the Year’.

10. Usyk has also ventured into movies – starring as Troyeschyna gangster #2 in the fantasy animated movie The Stolen Princess in 2018.