Oleksandr Usyk has picked the man he wants for his last fight.
Usyk is targeting Deontay Wilder for March 2027 in the United States, according to advisor Serhii Lapin, who told The Ring’s Mike Coppinger that the team is speaking to American promoters. Nothing is signed.
The pieces have been moving this way since June. Usyk vacated the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles that month rather than hold up the division, keeping the Ring Magazine championship and saying he had one last dance left. Lapin named Wilder and Jon Jones as the options at the time, with Wilder the preference.
The Rico Verhoeven fight is what pushed him toward the exit. Usyk needed 11 rounds to stop the Dutch kickboxer at the Pyramids of Giza in May, and the stoppage was disputed. He is 39 and 25-0.
Beating Wilder would complete a set. Usyk has already beaten Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua twice each, and Wilder is the last of the three names who dominated the heavyweight conversation before Usyk arrived in the division.
The timing is the argument against it. Wilder is 40 and would be 41 by March. He is 45-4-1 with 43 knockouts and lost back to back against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang before taking a split decision over Derek Chisora in London in April.
The location is the whole point. Usyk has never had a major fight in the United States, and his only American appearance was his heavyweight debut against Chazz Witherspoon in 2019. He has said before that he wants New York.
