Taras Shelestyuk hopes long road from Ukraine leads to world championship

The 2012 Ukrainian Olympic boxing team was a star-studded group that won two gold, two bronze and a silver medal in London.

More than four years later, the two gold medalists, Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk, are both world champions.

The silver medalist, Denys Berinchyk, is 4-0 and fighting in now war-torn Ukraine.

Both bronze medalists are undefeated as pros, living in the United States, and presumably on their way to becoming champions.

One of them is Taras Shelestyuk, 30, who will headline his first fight card on Friday on Showtime's ShoBox: the New Generation (10:30 p.m. ET) from Corona, Calif.

Shelestyuk (14-0, 9 KOs) will face Jimmy Herrera (15-3-1, 8 KOs), in a more difficult matchup than Herrera's record might indicate. The Chicago fighter has defeated unbeaten prospects in four of his last nine bouts and is 8-1-1 overall since July 2012.

Like some of his fellow Ukrainian Olympians, Shelestyuk has brought his wife, a former ballerina and model, over here and they reside in the Los Angeles area.

"In amateurs, it's best in Europe and Russia (and) Ukraine," he said, "and professionally, the big fights, the big money and most fans are here in the U.S."

Shelestyuk hooked up with seven-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach when he arrived here, and trained under the Hall of Famer for 2½ years at the Wild Card Boxing Club. He is currently under the tutelage of respected conditioner Eric Brown at Wild Card West in Santa Monica, Calif.

He says he has learned punching skills from Roach and boxing skills from Brown and Marvin Somodio, an assistant to Roach. He has also sparred and worked with former champion Shane Mosley.

"When I worked with Freddie, he gave me a lot of combination tricks, and power punches, and when I started training with Eric Brown he used my boxing skills more, like counterpunching," Shelestyuk told USA TODAY Sports. "I feel like right now I can mix it up and I can box and I can punch, and it's very good for me, because I know some tricks from Freddie, and some from Eric and some from Marvin Somodio. It's nice when you can switch from punching to boxing, and if plan A doesn't work you can go to plan B or Plan C."

Roach said Wednesday he didn't really have enough time to give to Shelestyuk but praised his work ethic.

"Taras is a very good fighter, very fundamentally sound, he still has a little amateur in him but he's been getting used to the pros and getting better and better all the time, and I think he's a future world champion," Roach said. "He's a very talented kid and a hard worker. He's in good hands with Eric."

Though Shelestyuk, 30, hasn't had many professional fights, he feels like it might be an advantage for him with less wear and tear on his body.

"I feel more power now, and I feel like I'm 20 years old," he said. "During my career, I have been making my body more powerful and I'm smarter, I've developed my skills and I feel very good. I feel like I just started my career."

Shelestyuk has been sparring for the last several months with Mosley, and gets valuable advice from the future Hall of Famer.

"I learn a lot from him, being the fighting legend that he is," Shelestyuk said. "I grew up watching him fight as a kid and respect what he's able to teach me."

Mosley, a former three-division champion, has been sparring with Shelestyuk "because a lot of guys won't spar with him. Guys are worried that he will make them look bad; he's so technical and sharp that they don't want to spar with him," he said. "So, I go in there with him a lot. It's hard to get people to spar with him.''

Art Pellulo has promoted the Ukrainian since 2012 and likes what he has.

"He's a good kid. We believe he's got a bright future, he's fighting a very tough guy," Pellulo said. "It's his first main event, and I'm hoping that if everything comes together as it should, that next year he can be fighting for a world title.

"But he's got to win and he's got to look good, and he knows it."

(Photo of Shane Mosley, left, with Taras Shelestyuk, during a recent workout, by Esther Lin, Showtime)