Usyk was born in Simferopol, Crimean Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union on 17 January 1987, to parents originally from northern Ukraine.

In February 2008, he moved up another weight class and was sent to the Olympic qualifier in Roseto degli Abruzzi replacing European Champion Denys Poyatsyka.

At the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships he defeated Artur Beterbiev and Teymur Mammadov to win the heavyweight title and qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

[14] At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Usyk won the gold medal, outpointing Artur Beterbiev, Tervel Pulev and Italy's Clemente Russo, outscoring him by 6–3 in the final.

[21] In his third professional fight on 26 April 2014, Usyk made his debut in Germany on the undercard of Klitschko-Leapai at the Koenig Pilsener Arena, defeating Ben Nsafoah via third-round knockout.

[27] Usyk made a fourth and final defense against unknown Cuban boxer Pedro Rodriguez in a scheduled 12-round fight on 12 December at the Sport Palace.

[28] In June 2016, it was announced that Usyk would challenge undefeated Polish boxer Krzysztof Głowacki (26–0, 16 KOs) for his WBO cruiserweight title on 17 September, at the Ergo Arena, Gdansk, Poland.

[29][30][31] It was reported that Usyk's trainer James Ali Bashir wanted to recruit former world champion Antonio Tarver as a sparring partner.

[37] On 11 November K2 Promotions announced Usyk would be defending his WBO title against 28 year old South African boxer Thabiso Mchunu (17–2, 11 KOs).

[46][47] Bob Arum announced that Usyk would be part of a triple header including Vasiliy Lomachenko at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on 8 April 2017 against Michael Hunter (12–0, 8 KOs).

[49] In front of a sold-out crowd of 2,828, where there was majority Ukrainian fans in attendance, Usyk was taken the distance for the second time in his career and won a rather one-sided unanimous decision to retain his WBO title.

[52][53] On 1 July 2015, Usyk finally announced that he would join fellow cruiserweights Mairis Briedis, Murat Gassiev, Yuniel Dorticos, Marco Huck and Krzysztof Włodarczyk in the eight-man bracket style tournament, due to start in September 2017.

With the win, Usyk progressed to the semi-final stage of the Super Series and was to face the winner of the Mairis Briedis vs. Mike Perez, scheduled for 30 September.

[88] After positive meetings between Bellew's promoter Eddie Hearn and K2's Alexander Krassyuk, on 20 August, Boxing Scene reported the fight was likely to take place on 10 November 2018.

[93][94] On 7 September, Usyk signed a multi-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing, which meant he would fight exclusively on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in USA.

[95][96] A week after signing with Matchroom, the Usyk vs. Bellew fight was announced to take place on 10 November at the Manchester Arena, live and exclusive on Sky Box Office.

[100] On fight night, Usyk, who is usually a slow starter, eventually took full control of the bout and stopped Bellew in round 8 to retain all the cruiserweight belts.

[111][112][113] Usyk's US debut was coming along as a success before even stepping into the ring as only two weeks after the fight was announced, over 6,000 tickets were sold, including all lower bowl and floor seats.

Testing performed last week at the request of the Illinois Boxing Commission showed, what I’ve always known, that I’m a clean fighter.” Eddie Hearn confirmed that there was a shortlist of replacements.

[121] On fight night, Spong issued a statement confirming his 3rd urine sample, which was tested on October 2, came out as negative, re-iterating his stance as being a clean fighter.

Witherspoon sat on his stool in the corner exhausted and his trainer Tommy Brooks, told referee Hector Afu to call the fight.

[142][143] On 30 March, the British Boxing Board of Control extended the suspension until he end of May, following the guidelines from government and medical authorities, meaning the fight would be postponed.

"[163] On 20 July, an official announcement was made, confirming that the fight between Usyk and Joshua would be taking place on 25 September at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"[165] On 22 June, it was announced that a rematch was scheduled to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 20 August with Usyk defending the WBA, WBO and IBF championship belts, and Joshua, as the challenger.

Krassyuk noted that Usyk relished the prospect of squaring off against Joshua twice: "So I remember when we discussed with Oleksandr the issue of rematch, he was delighted and said 'Wow, cool, I will beat Antokha [sic] twice.

[169] On 2 March, Usyk confirmed in a video interview with American news network CNN that he had taken up arms and joined a territorial defence battalion in Ukraine.

[184] The fight took place on 26 August at the Stadion Wroclaw in Wrocław, Poland for Usyk's WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring titles.

[189] Debate subsequently followed regarding the fifth round low blow as many observers felt it should actually have been ruled a legal punch and thus potentially resulted in a KO victory for Dubois.

[244] A few days later, Usyk—along with fellow boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko and MMA champion Yaroslav Amosov—travelled back to Ukraine to join the country's territorial defense forces.

[251] In 2022, he became a co-founder and brand ambassador of Ready to Fight,[252] an international blockchain platform whose mission is to make building a boxing career easier and more accessible by creating links between athletes, managers, agents, doctors and other specialized professionals, as well as sports services, infrastructure and fans.