Oleksandr Usyk shocked the boxing world on Friday when he relinquished his multiple heavyweight boxing titles and announced his plan to retire after ‘one last dance.’
Fighters from across combat sports jumped on the opportunity to call him out, including kickboxing champ Rico Verhoeven. Verhoeven took Usyk to the brink of defeat in front of the pyramids of Giza last month before a ridiculous referee stoppage spoiled the end. Unfortunately for Rico, Usyk already has his plans set.
Eddie Hearn was speaking to media before Saturday’s DAZN Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis fight and spilled the beans.
“I think he’s accomplished everything,” Hearn said of Usyk. “He’s earned the right to do whatever he wants. So he’s gonna fight [Deontay] Wilder next, I believe. And that’s just the fight that he wants to take. He’ll go all business, and he’ll say, ‘Where’s the most amount of money I can get for that fight?’ And that that will be him done.”
“You know, I think maybe he’s realizing, does he want to be put under the pressure of an ordered fight and twenty eight day negotiation and then the purse fee, and then you have to take part in the fight in the next ninety days? Does he wanna go to Germany and fight [Agit] Kabayel?”
The answer to those rhetorical questions is ‘No.’ Usyk got a lot of heat from boxing fans and sanctioning organizations for slowing down a bit following his two fights with Tyson Fury in 2024. People questioned his injuries, they questioned what he was doing in his free time. They torched him after the Verhoeven fight. So we’re not surprised that he’d decide to leave now.
A fight with a somewhat resurgent Deontay Wilder will be fun, if not the most challenging bout Usyk could have picked. But ten years from now, having the last top named heavyweight on his record will prove that the Ukrainian heavyweight faced and beat all his peers.
