Serhii Bohachuk fights for his first world title with a lot on his mind.
Bohachuk (23-1, 23 KOs) faces Sebastian Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 30.
Bohachuk was in Ukraine waiting on his visa to return to the United States before the conflict began. Bohachuk had to go through a long process to get back to the United States. Bohachuk’s brother is fighting in the armed forces currently for Ukraine and everything changed for the fighter and his family in the blink of an eye.
“My motivation is my country,” stated Bohachuk to BoxingScene. “Because my country [is] at war. I need to win, I need to support my country. It motivated [me].”
Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 with what Vladimir Putin called “special military operation”.
“War – and a lot of people dying,” Bohachuk said, with a face you could only make if you saw it first-hand.
The AP reported 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in two-years. Troop deaths and injuries on both sides had reached 500,000 by August 2023 per the reports of the New York Times and there is no end in sight.
“There are a lot of civilian people that [have] died,” Bohachuk continued. “Kids, girls, a lot of people have died. It is a very bad situation. In my country, it is a bad situation – it is very dangerous.”
While Bohachuk chases his dream in America, he does so knowing his home will never be the same.
While Ukraine has had a great era of champions, including Vasiliy Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and former flyweight champion Artem Dalakian, Bohachuk has a unique circumstance in that he is looking to win his first world title with the horrors of Ukraine still going on.
Boxers have been an inspiration during this war for Ukraine. Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight world champion is the mayor of Kyiv and has been a vocal figure throughout. Usyk has become a figurehead of the Ukrainian boxing community during the war, but Bohachuk is looking to emerge and achieve his greatest feat during some of the tough times in Ukraine.
“My motivation is my people back in Ukraine,” Bohachuk added. “I want to support my country. I want to show everyone, I want to show the world that Ukraine is a strong country.
“Win the war, win the fight. I need motivation, I need to win.”