Don’t push the horses — what does it mean and what did Usyk really mean

Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk, who won a fight against British boxer Daniel Dubois on the night of July 20, 2025, uttered the following phrase before the fight at a joint press conference with Dubois: Don’t push the horses.

This is reported by Clicker.

This phrase surprised Dubois’ team.

“I need a translator,” said a representative of Dubois’ team.

In the end, Oleksandr Usyk’s phrase “Don’t push the horses” became a meme on the Internet.

What did Oleksandr Usyk mean

Oleksandr Usyk literally translated the Ukrainian phrase “Не жени коней” into English.

In fact, in English this phrase should sound like this: “Hold your horses.”

But, according to Ukrainian singer Maria Burmaka, since Oleksandr Usyk eventually defeated Daniel Dubois in the ring, now, despite the strange phrase “Don’t push the horses”, he does not look like a fool.