Oleksandr Usyk has never lost a fight during his unblemished 22-0 professional career but the same can’t be said for his amateur days.
The Ukrainian slickster won gold at the 2012 Olympic Games, 2011 World Championships and 2008 European Championships, although he experienced setbacks along the way.
Usyk suffered a stoppage defeat to Korobov in the amateursCredit: Getty
Usyk retired from amateur boxing with a record of 335 wins and 15 losses – and one of those defeats stands out above the rest.
In 2006, Usyk was stopped by Russia’s Matvey Korobov in the semifinals of the European Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
There is no footage of the fight but according to Korobov, Usyk was decked en route to an RSCO loss in the third round.
An RSCO – also known as the mercy rule – is when a referee stops a contest due to a boxer being outclassed by their opponent.
“There was a knockdown, there was a stoppage,” said Korobov whilst recalling the one-sided bout.
“I think I dropped him off his feet. The referee scored a knockdown. I think that was the end of the round – the second, if I’m not wrong.
“The third round was stopped by the points, because I was many points ahead of him.”
Korobov was an extremely successful amateur, winning two World Championships in 2005 and 2007.
However, he wasn’t able to replicate those achievements in the paid ranks.
Korobov challenged for a world title once during his 33-fight (28-4-1) pro career, losing to Andy Lee in a vacant WBO middleweight scrap via sixth-round TKO in 2014.
Korobov was an excellent amateur and won two World Championship goldsCredit: GETTY
In the years that followed, the Russian boxer was outpointed by Jermall Charlo and suffered a shoulder injury against Chris Eubank Jr resulting in a second-round stoppage loss.
The final fight of his career took place in 2020 when he retired on his stool at the end of the fourth round against Ronald Ellis.
In stark contrast, Usyk has gone on to establish himself as the pound-for-pound king of boxing.
Usyk unified all four belts at cruiserweight by beating Murat Gassiev in 2018 and then six years later became undisputed heavyweight champion by beating Tyson Fury in May.
He will rematch Fury on December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, however, this time only the WBA, WBC and WBO belts will be on the line.
Usyk vacated the IBF strap after filing an exception to the major sanctioning body to keep hold of their version of the world title for his rematch with Fury.
The IBF wanted Usyk to face Daniel Dubois but the 37-year-old wasn’t able to do so due to the rematch clause in his contract with Fury.
As a result, Dubois has been upgraded to IBF world champion and will defend his title against Anthony Joshua on September 21 at Wembley Stadium.