Former undisputed cruiserweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk is less than a week away from the biggest fight of his career.

On September 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Usyk will take on IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. 

Usyk looked less than impressive in his twelve round unanimous decision win over division veteran Derek Chisora last October.

The Olympic gold medal winner believes the critics are reading too much into his performance against Chisora.

“I am very grateful to all those that support me and everything else but they expect too much from athletes. Some of them very much do not understand what is happening in the ring, how difficult it is or, in some cases, how easy it is. People just have an image that they think up," Usyk told The Sun.

“The fact is I boxed Derek for 12 rounds but he is actually a very difficult guy to beat. If you look at his two fights with Tyson Fury then he has gone 22 rounds with him.”

Usyk explained that he came from very humble beginnings. He works harder to ensure that his family has a much brighter future.

A victory over Joshua would immediately catapult Usyk's worth as a fighter - leading to significantly larger paydays.

“My first job was helping my mother on a big cow farm,” Usyk revealed.

“She had about 50 cows under her command and they all had to be milked and fed and put in their place when the shed needed to be cleaned out. I was there every day after school.

“I work hard now so that my children never have to worry about helping me at work. They can just go to school and get knowledge and not have to worry about helping me at work.”