(LifeSiteNews) — Boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion of the world is a devout Christian who witnesses to God through his fights.

Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, 38, defeated Britain’s Daniel Dubois, 27, in the fifth round of the heavyweight championship in London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday, July 19.

Known for making Christian symbols prominent in his matches, this time Usyk wore boxing shorts with “Orthodoxy” emblazoned around the waistband. After his victory, the champion donned both a heavy cross and a black T-shirt reading, in Greek, “Orthodoxy or Death.”

“I want to say, ‘Thank you, Jesus Christ,’” he told an interviewer immediately after the match. “I want to say, ‘Thank you, [Virgin] Maria’.”

Usyk’s victory confirmed his status as a sporting legend, for Dubois had been defending the only boxing federation championship – the IBF belt – that the Ukrainian had not already won. But Usyk’s performance in the ring – heralded as “genius” by connoisseurs of boxing – served also as an expression of his Christian faith.

Greatest boxer of all time Oleksandr Usyk: “Jesus Christ is my life. Boxing is great… but God cleans my soul. Jesus is the Life.” pic.twitter.com/sOlmX8gIsb

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Usyk, who has now won one cruiserweight and two heavyweight titles, is a married church-going man with four children. In later post-fight interview, he emphasized his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“I believe [in] God, in Jesus Christ, but the [Virgin Mary] is my mother, [heavenly] mother,” Usyk said.

The boxer, who struggled to find the correct words in English, also stated that Jesus Christ is “[his] life.”

“What we do now, it’s only temporary. […] I don’t know how many years I will live. But now I work, and my future is in the sky [heaven].”

He explained that he prays every morning and night, and that on Sundays, whenever he has the opportunity, he goes to church. He also practices fasting, according to the traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Usyk acknowledged that he works hard but God “cleans [his] soul.”

“I love this world, [but] Jesus is my life,” he declared.

Asked by another Christian how his relationship with the Lord had shaped his life and boxing, Usyk gave up his fractured English to give witness articulately in his native Ukrainian.

“Before I started boxing, I already had my faith in God, but I was an angry kid,” he said through a translator. “After I started boxing, my soul changed. I started to feel more love.”

RELATED: Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champ praises Jesus Christ as ‘my Lord’ after massive victory

With God’s help, he abandoned the feeling that life was unfair to him. God has also helped him not to get into fights with offensive strangers. Knowing that he could knock out his detractors, Usyk thanks God that he doesn’t.

There were 90,000 boxing fans at Wembley Stadium who witnessed the deeply Christian boxer defeat the taller (6’5” to his 6’3″), heavier (243.8 lbs to his 227.3 lbs), and younger Dubois, and thousands of other fans streamed the match online for £25  ($33.70 US). Thus, the Ukrainian fighter, who also redirects the word’s wandering attention to the armed struggle between his nation and Russia, reaches a massive audience when he witnesses to his faith.

The division between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church dates back to the Great Schism of 1052. Usyk is one of many boxers who have thanked his Savior after victories. One of the most prominent has been Britain’s Tyson Fury.

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