Oleksandr Usyk completed his quest to conquer the heavyweight division with a second victory over Tyson Fury in December.
The 38-year-old from Ukraine successfully defended his unified WBC, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision win against ‘The Gypsy King’ on December 21 in Riyadh, effectively cementing himself as the greatest heavyweight of his generation.
With other victories over the likes of Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois and Derek Chisora, the 38-year-old Ukrainian has beaten all-comers at heavyweight since he made his divisional debut back in 2020.
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Usyk recently confirmed he will be continuing with his career, after it was speculated that he could finally draw the curtain on his glittering tenure which began not long after he captured Olympic Gold at the 2012 games in London.
Before his second fight against ‘The Gypsy King’ the Ukrainian made it clear he planned a stunning return to cruiserweight to attempt to regain the belts he once held at 200lbs.
“I try cruiserweight again. I try [to be undisputed cruiserweight again].”
One man who was willing to welcome Usyk back at his old division was current IBF and Ring magazine champion Jai Opetaia. His promoter Eddie Hearn made it clear that a fight against the Ukrainian was their long term target.
“The medium focus right now is every belt in the division and the long term focus is to fight Usyk for the unified heavyweight world championship. I believe he is the only fighter who can give Usyk a real fight over the next 12-18 moths.”
The Australian himself said it was a fight he would ‘take with both hands’.
“I’m always open for it, I would never knock down a fight like that. That’s a fight I would take with both hands, 100%.”
When asked about the possibility of facing Opetaia, Usyk originally kept the door open for the potential matchup.
“I don’t know, maybe. He’s [Opetaia] a great fighter.”
However, in a recent interview with Sky Sports Boxing, Usyk has now u-turned on his original plan and ruled out ever heading back down to 200lbs, claiming it would ‘not be possible’ to lose the weight again.
“Now I think it’s not possible because six years I work to grow my weight, and I work, work, work and eating, it’s really hard.”
It’s been confirmed that he will face the winner of the IBF heavyweight title fight between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker next.
