Oleksandr Usyk has maintained his interest in facing a former world champion, effectively placing the ball in his court as he equally considers another potential option.
The Ukrainian vacated his WBC, IBF and WBA heavyweight titles in June while, perhaps more importantly, revealing that he has just one fight left.
This followed his subpar performance against former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven, who gave a tremendous effort but ultimately suffered an 11th-round stoppage defeat in May.
Crucially, though, this was not supposed to be Usyk’s penultimate contest, as his original exit strategy – which he outlined earlier this year – involved two further fights.
Perhaps the Verhoeven clash was a little close for comfort but, either way, the two-division undisputed champion has already crafted a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
Not only that, but Usyk is firmly considered the greatest heavyweight of this era, having scored two respective victories over Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.
He would therefore be forgiven for taking an ‘easier’ fight against Deontay Wilder who, while a former WBC champion, is arguably further removed from his prime than Usyk.
But with the 40-year-old coming off a split decision victory over fellow veteran Derek Chisora, Usyk, 39, has told The Athletic that the American remains an ideal candidate for a stateside showdown.
“Why not? If Deontay’s team wants it, I do it. Money, business… Now we have two options, but what for me is good, we will take. The team is working on it.”
While stopping short of revealing his second option, it would seem that Wilder is, indeed, the frontrunner to face Usyk in his last dance.
