Ukraine's Viktor Postol avoiding news from home as Gary Antuanne Russell fight nears

(Editor's note: This story was written and published before Russia launched its attack on Ukraine.)

(Update — Feb. 24 at 5:05 p.m. ET: Postol still plans to fight Saturday despite the invasion.)

LAS VEGAS — Viktor Postol knows a little about what is happening in his homeland, even though he doesn’t want to know. A proud Ukrainian, the former super lightweight champion fights Gary Antuanne Russell on Saturday (10 p.m. ET, Showtime) in a pivotal bout in his career.

Postol, who held the WBC super lightweight title in 2015 and 2016, is 31-3 with 12 knockouts. He’s only been beaten by the best of the best: Terence Crawford, Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez.

Russell is a promising up-and-comer who is a prohibitive -500 to win at BetMGM. Postol is +350.

Postol did the first three weeks of his training camp in Ukraine, before heading to Los Angeles for the final month to finish with Freddie Roach. He left his wife, Olga, and their twin 5-year-old sons, Timothey and Lukyam, at home in Brovary, Ukraine, near the nation’s capital of Kyiv.

He speaks to Olga every day, but tries to avoid watching or reading the news from home. He’s hopeful — almost hoping against hope — that what appears to be an imminent Russian invasion doesn’t occur.

Some Russian troops have already crossed the border into Ukraine, which has called up its reserve troops in preparation for a defense of its homeland. Russia has evacuated its diplomats from Ukraine and on Wednesday, Ukrainian banks and the government were hit by cyberattacks.

President Biden has urged Americans to evacuate Ukraine and has placed economic sanctions on Russia. The president called Russia’s actions “a flagrant violation of international law."

Despite all that, Postol is in Las Vegas, desperately trying to avoid the news as if that might somehow alter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans. He says he never seriously considered not fighting and said he’s hopeful of a diplomatic solution.

“I hope there will be no war,” said Postol, who said his wife and twins are safe at the present. “I try not to follow the news because it’s difficult. I never considered not to fight. I am thinking this might be more of a political fight than a real war. I try not to follow it because I know it will be difficult for me if I do. I have a job to do here.

“Obviously, I worry about it and I have some thoughts on what may happen. I have some people in the Ukraine who will take care of my family if need be, but they are safe and telling me everything is fine.”

Ukraine has become something of a powerhouse in professional boxing these days. The country of 41 million is home to two of the world’s finest boxers, unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and lightweight Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Postol is hopeful of regaining a 140-pound belt and getting a chance to fight for the unified title.

Vitali Klitschko, a former heavyweight champion, is the mayor of Kyiv and a friend of Postol’s. So is Wladimir Klitschko, a Ukrainian who also is a former heavyweight champion.

The Klitschko brothers are among the leaders who are pushing against Russian’s incursion and seeking to keep Ukraine an independent nation.

Postol said he shares many of the views on the situation with the Klitschko brothers, but hasn’t been able to speak with them about what’s going on.

A win on Saturday would be huge for his career and could see him emerge as a viable title contender, but he is not expecting to try to use it as a rallying cry for Ukrainians who are fearful of what their future may be like.

“It’s not motivating me because I try not to think about it,” Postol said. “If I do, it hurts my focus. I’ve been pretty good in my career about dealing with distractions. My fight with Ramirez was postponed three times and moved. It was crazy. So I know how to do it.

“But I’m not sure it’s going to provide anyone inspiration at this point. It’s just a situation of this is my job that I do to take care of my family, and I want to do it the best that I can do.”

And so he’ll sit in his hotel room and while away the time until fight night, assiduously trying to avoid the bad news that may come from the other side of the world.

It’s not optimal, but it’s out of his hands.

“You learn as a professional there are things you can control and things you can’t,” he said. “I am going to do the best I can with the things I can control and that’s all I can do. I hope there is peace and I am optimistic the politicians will do that, but at this point, I only have one job and that’s to fight.”