Oleksandr Usyk may look to wait for the winner of Deontay Wilder vs Derek Chisora after talks of a potential showdown between him and Wilder collapsed.
Usyk and Wilder were heavily rumoured to be facing off on July 11th at IVB Boxing’s inaugural show in San Francisco.
However, those plans appear to have fallen through after MFPro and Queensberry Promotions announced a co-promoted event between Wilder and Chisora on April 4th.
‘The Cat’ has not fought since July, when he stopped Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium to seal victory in their rematch.
While there is still no official update from Usyk regarding his next move, Queensberry’s Dev Sahni has given his view on what the two-time undisputed world champion could do next.
“I’d imagine he will want to fight before knowing the result of Wilder vs Chisora.
“Who knows with Oleksandr Usyk, he has done everything there is to do in the sport.
“I’d imagine he would fancy the winner of Wilder vs Chisora.
“Chisora is the only Brit that he hasn’t beaten twice.”
Usyk defeated Chisora in his second heavyweight bout back in 2020, with many believing ‘Del Boy’ gave him one of his toughest tests over 12 rounds.
The rumours of a fight between Usyk and Wilder first emerged after Usyk directly called out ‘The Bronze Bomber’.
Eddie Hearn later revealed why the fight appealed to Usyk when speaking to Sky Sports Boxing.
“I was with Usyk in Saudi and I said, ‘Deontay Wilder?’ and he said ‘yes.’
“He made a point and said, ‘I want to fight all the people from my generation and the three people who were the key fighters of my era are AJ, Fury and Wilder.’
“I think he’s thinking Wilder on my resume would be nice.”
Whether the Ukrainian will wait for the April 4th result remains unclear, but Usyk’s sports director Sergey Lapin has also suggested a possible fight with Agit Kabayel, while speaking to Pro Boxing fans.
“From a boxing perspective, personally I would like to see that fight.
“But Oleksandr’s main goal is to fight Wilder in the USA. That is the priority.
“After the U.S. fight, we can see what news comes from Germany and what options appear next.”
With a Wilder clash now unlikely, Kabayel could emerge as Usyk’s most realistic next opponent.
