'I have only discipline': Usyk lands on secret to success

The Ukrainian reveals both the iron mentality that brings glory and the soft heart that yearns to be with his family

- Donald McRae

Just before midnight on Saturday, in the depths of Wembley Stadium, Oleksandr Usyk stroked his moustache as he listened to a question arising from his destruction of Daniel Dubois.

The 38-year-old Ukrainian had once again become the undisputed world heavyweight champion after a performance filled with panache and a kind of battering precision that had normally sober ringside observers reaching for words such as "genius" and "magician".

In the wake of such savage alchemy, someone asked Usyk a question that made his face light up again. After all he had done, and with speculation as to who might be able to challenge him now, how did Usyk find the motivation to keep fighting? "Oh, listen, bro," he said, as he made a distinction crucial to any clear understanding of his extraordinary achievements in and out of the ring, "I don't have motivation. I have discipline. Motivation? It's temporary. Today, for example, you have motivation. But tomorrow you wake up early and you don't have motivation."