Oleksandr Usyk might have one more in him than he said.
Usyk vacated the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight titles in June and announced he had a single fight left. He is targeting Deontay Wilder for March 2027 in the United States, and advisor Serhii Lapin told The Ring’s Mike Coppinger the team is speaking to American promoters about it.
Now a second name is in the frame. Boxing King Media reports that Lapin has said a trilogy fight with Tyson Fury would only be considered after Wilder, which would take Usyk beyond the one-fight exit he laid out.
Fury put the idea in play himself. He called Usyk out on social media this week, having spent months frustrated by the stalled negotiations for Anthony Joshua.
The Wilder fight is not signed. Lapin has been clear it is the priority and the first option, and nothing has been agreed on either front.
Usyk is 39 and Fury 38. They met twice in 2024, with Usyk taking a split decision in May and a unanimous one in the December rematch.
The Rico Verhoeven fight is what started the exit talk. Usyk needed 11 rounds to stop the Dutch kickboxer at the Pyramids of Giza in May, and the stoppage was disputed, after which he gave up the belts rather than hold up the division. He kept the Ring Magazine championship.
Wilder comes off a split decision over Derek Chisora in London in April, having lost consecutively to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang before that. He is 40 and would be 41 by March.
