WEIRD WORLD OF FOOTBALL
MEANWHILE IN …
...Turkey, FC Polissya Zhytomyr handed a debut to a new signing – heavyweight boxing champ Oleksandr Usyk
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GET THE BIG LAD ON
Wycombe have shown what success you can have deploying a 16-stone striker – so a Ukrainian second division side decided to give it a go, too.
While the world wondered whether Ukraine was going to be invaded, Polissya Zhytomyr headed off to Turkey for a mid-season break, with boxer Oleksandr Usyk in tow. The 35-year-old beat Anthony Joshua in September to become world heavyweight champion – he fights Joshua again soon, but not before a return to football, after a spell at Tavriya Simferopol as a kid.
When Polissya took on Ukrainian Premier League side Veres Rivne in a friendly, Usyk was introduced to lead the line – he weighed 221lbs for his last fight, about the size of five Jermain Defoes, although less than Wycombe’s Adebayo Akinfenwa, reported to be 224lbs. Usyk did some shadow boxing as he waited to come on, but missed the ball completely when a chance came his way. He later redeemed himself with a driving run, showing the sort of agility that late-era Ronaldo Nazario could only have dreamt of.