He held his breath under water for 4:40 almost passing away - Oleksander Usyk's manager lists the champion's crazy feats ahead of Anthony Joshua rematch

Oleksander Usyk’s manager was full of praise for his fighter as he listed some of the most impressive accomplishments of the champion in the build-up to the rematch with Anthony Joshua. The Ukrainian will defend his WBO, WBA, and IBF World Heavyweight Championships in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 13.

Egis Klimas, manager of Oleksander Usyk, said:

"I am so proud to represent him [Oleksander Usyk]. I have never seen anybody at the 45 degrees heat, to ride his bicycle for 100 kilometers. I have never seen anybody swimming the day before the press conference in London for 10 kilometers in the pool in five hours. I have never seen anybody holding his breath under water for four minutes and forty seconds almost passing away and shaking himself. I ask him ‘what’s wrong with you’ he says ‘I know I have a trainer behind me, he is not going to let me drown"

Watch Klimas speak at the press conference here:

The list of things that Usyk has achieved and gone through in his training camp are rather impressive. The average human can hold their breath for 30 to 90 seconds, so being able to do it for almost 5 minutes is a huge accomplishment. Usyk has also shown incredible dedication to go through and achieve all these tasks. Some fighters become complacent after becoming a champion and receiving massive pay-days.

Usyk is the only non-retired heavyweight champion right now, after Tyson Fury’s retirement. The winner of the bout can thus claim to be the best heavyweight boxer in the world. Clearly Usyk wants to make sure that he can not only conquer cruiserweight but also the heavyweight division.

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Oleksander Usyk has shown incredible dedication throughout his career

Throughout his journey as a boxer, Oleksander Usyk has always taken the sport seriously. In just his 15th fight as a cruiserweight, Usyk became the Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion by unifying the IBF, WBO, WBC and WBA titles. In that run, Usyk would travel to other fighters' backyards and win their world championships.

Watch Usyk face Gassiev:

To become a unified champion, Usyk fought Russian IBF and WBA World Champion Murat Gassiev in Russia. In that fight, Usyk made Gassiev look rather ordinary, as he routed to a 12-round unanimous decision victory.