Oleksandr Usyk has arrived in London with his team as he gets set to challenge Anthony Joshua for the world heavyweight championship.

The Ukrainian has been preparing for first shot at a heavyweight belt in his homeland of Ukraine, which he left this morning onboard a private plane.

Unbeaten pound-for-pound star Usyk is days away from facing Joshua who is one of boxing’s most explosive punchers, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening.

Oleksandr Usyk (fourth from left) has touched down in London ahead of Saturday’s fight

Anthony Joshua puts his heavyweight belts on the line at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Usyk has confirmed his arrival in the capital, tweeting a picture of himself along with his team by the private jet, with the caption ‘Hello London’.

The picture was taken when he and his team were about to board the flight in Ukraine, and he shared that with one other message on Instagram where they are wearing matching fluorescent turquoise tracksuits.

Usyk will finish his training for the fight in London, with the weigh in taking place on Friday afternoon before they square off the following night.

Usyk (fifth from left)  and his team posed in matching fluorescent turquoise tracksuits

It will be just Usyk’s third match in the heavyweight division after he last saw off Derek Chisora via an unanimous decision victory in October 2020.

He has moved up from the cruiserweight scene which he dominated by becoming world champion and beating the likes of Tony Bellew, Michael Hunter, Marco Huck and Krzysztof Głowacki.

Usyk was criticised for making hard work of Chisora, but Hunter who suffered his only career defeat to the Ukrainian has warned Joshua about the challenge he must overcome.

The American told Sky Sports: ‘It will be very difficult to actually get a win over Usyk in a certain fashion.

Usyk has had two victories since moving up from the cruiserweight to heavyweight division

Usyk has been bulking up to improve his power ahead of the fight against Joshua

‘Joshua will have to have a concrete game-plan and follow it. It will be a very hard task.

‘If he pulls it off? Give the man credit. Because this style of fighting, for him, is the most difficult.’

Ahead of the fight, Usyk has been bulking up to add more power to his game, while Joshua has been trimming down focusing on getting himself into the best possible condition should the fight go to the final round.

Joshua had originally been due to face Tyson Fury this year until the Gypsy King was ordered to fight Deontay Wilder in a trilogy bout.

Usyk stepped up in his place as the mandatory challenger for Joshua’s WBA, IBF and WBO belts.