By Jake Donovan

Oleksandr Usyk and Alexander Povetkin remain hard at work in gym, both planning for a springtime ring return.

For the moment, though, it won’t necessarily come in the form of a head-on collision.

Despite early whispers of an Usyk-Povetkin pairing on May 18 in Chicago, such a matchup still remains firmly in the discussion stage and with the very real possibility of it not happening straight away.

Usyk (16-0, 12KOs)—the universally-recognized 2018 Fighter of the Year—presently reigns as the World cruiserweight king but is on the books for his first fight of 2019 to double as his heavyweight debut. A formal announcement has yet to come, primarily due to the lack of an officially signed opponent.

As of Sunday evening, Povetkin—previously the favorite to land the assignment—addressed the topic with local reporters in his native Russia.

“I can say that at the moment, there is no confirmation yet on whether this fight will take place,” noted Povetkin (34-2, 24KOs) while at a function alongside his brother Vladimir honoring his late father, famed former Russian amateur coach Vladimir Povetkin.

For now, the plan is for Usyk to fight on May 18 live on DAZN from a yet-to-be-finalized arena in Chicago, his first in the United States since an April ’17 win over previously unbeaten Michael Hunter in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

The unbeaten Ukrainian southpaw spent 2018 rounding up cruiserweight titles, earning recognition as undisputed champion following a 12-round virtual shutout of previously unbeaten Murat Gassiev last July. The win earned him the World cruiserweight championship (in addition to owning the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO straps) as well as top honors in the inaugural World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament.

Usyk—who’d begun his 2018 campaign with a 12-round win over Mairis Briedis in Riga, Latvia—closed out the year with a rousing 8th round knockout of former titlist Tony Bellew last November. The bout played to a sold-out crowd in Manchester, England, his 7th consecutive bout away from his native Ukraine.

The entirety of that stretch consists of his cruiserweight title run, beginning with a 12-round win over previously unbeaten Krzysztof Glowacki to dethrone the reigning titlist on the road in Poland. Of his six title defenses, just one—a Dec. ’16 9th round stoppage of South Africa’s Thabiso Mchunu in Inglewood, Calif.—took place on neutral soil.

Usyk’s aforementioned win over Bellew marked his first fight in England since winning a Gold medal for Ukraine during the 2012 London Olympics.

As for Povetkin, Russia’s 2004 Olympic Gold medalist and former secondary titlist will still likely return to the ring sometime in the spring.

A showdown with Usyk would mark his first career fight in the U.S. The bulk of his early career took place in Germany while fighting under the Sauerland Event banner, before enjoying a local following in Russia after joining forces with World of Boxing. All but three of his 36 career bouts having taken place in either of those two countries, having fought once in Finland and his last two bouts taking place in the United Kingdom.

The latter of his two marked his most recent piece of ring action, suffering a 7th round knockout at the hands of unbeaten, unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua last September in London, England. The bout—in which Povetkin caused damage early before suffering two knockdowns and a subsequent stoppage—marked the official launch of sports streaming service DAZN USA, which will carry the May 18.

Whether or not it includes Povetkin—be it as an opponent for Usyk or even as an undercard attraction—remains to be seen. For now, the former titlist and still relevant heavyweight contender just plans to stay ready for wherever his next ring adventure takes him.

“I’ve had time to recover from my last fight (with Joshua) and am back in the gym training hard,” noted Povetkin.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox