The next era of heavyweights may be eyeing Oleksandr Usyk, but the champion is considering Deontay Wilder – whose bigger name can’t hide the fact that his best days are clearly behind him.
And Wilder’s team is also interested.
“This is world champion guy. This is very famous guy. This is strong guy,” Usyk said of Wilder in an interview with Boxing King Media during the WBC convention in Bangkok, Thailand. “He is one of the great heavyweight[s of the] last 10 years.”
Usyk, 24-0 (15 KOs), has already defeated Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, the other two heavyweights who ruled the division alongside Wilder during the post-Wladimir Klitschko era.
In fact, Usyk has two victories apiece over the “Gypsy King” and “AJ.” He defeated Joshua by unanimous decision to win the IBF, WBA and WBO belts in 2021, then defended them with a split decision over Joshua in their 2022 rematch. Usyk edged Fury by thrilling split decision to add the WBC title and become undisputed champion in May 2024 and triumphed unanimously in their sequel last December.
Because of sanctioning body obligations, Usyk vacated the IBF belt between the Fury fights and then regained it in another rematch, knocking out Daniel Dubois in the fifth round this past July. His second undisputed reign didn’t last long; Usyk has since parted ways with the WBO belt, which now belongs to Fabio Wardley.
Wardley isn’t the only one striving to become the new king. Another leading challenger to the throne is Agit Kabayel (the interim WBC titleholder), and prospects such as Moses Itauma also have lofty future aspirations.
But Usyk, who turns 39 in January, is seemingly selective when it comes to whatever amount of time he has left in a Hall of Fame career that also saw him become the undisputed cruiserweight champion.
Wilder, who recently turned 40, is 44-4-1 (43 KOs) and nearly six years removed from his time as a heavyweight titleholder. Wilder’s five-year run with the WBC belt concluded in February 2020 when he lost his second fight with Fury, put away in a damaging seventh-round technical knockout.
He’s gone just 2-3 since. Wilder fought valiantly in a war with Fury in their third fight in October 2021, trading knockdowns and heavy blows before succumbing in the 11th round. Wilder took a year off to recover, returning with a one-round win over Robert Helenius in October 2022. He didn’t fight again for another 14 months, was outboxed and hurt in a decision loss to Joseph Parker in December 2023 and then suffered a highlight-reel KO at the hands of Zhilei Zhang in June 2024.
Another lengthy layoff followed. After nearly 13 months away, Wilder came back on June 27 and defeated the 24-5 Tyrrell Anthony Herndon via seventh-round TKO.
Those watching his performance were left to wonder whether Wilder was shaking off rust against Herndon or if the passage of time and the accumulation of punishment have taken their toll.
Wilder and his team are choosing to fight on, however.
"We have plans for next year, and we’d like Oleksandr Usyk to be part of them,” Wilder’s co-manager, Shelly Finkel, told Sky Sports. “If we receive the right offer, we would be open to that fight.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
