Heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk turned 38 last month, and plenty of people are wondering how much longer the skilled Ukrainian southpaw will continue to fight for and how much more the former undisputed cruiserweight and former undisputed heavyweight ruler wants to achieve. Now, in speaking with Sky Sports, Usyk, 23-0(14) and last seen repeating his big win over Tyson Fury, has laid out his plans.
Usyk says he aims to box two more times before calling it a career – a Hall of Fame career, to be sure.
“I will fight who will win, Joseph Parker, Daniel Dubois, no problem,” Usyk said. “I think two years, one and a half [left in boxing]. I feel great myself. I feel I have two fights to prepare [for], not more. Just two.”
Usyk, a truly special fighter we are all enjoying watching do his thing while he is still here and is active, would be listed as a favorite over either Dubois or Parker. Usyk, of course, defeated Usyk in August of 2023, yet there was an element of controversy in the fight when Dubois knocked Usyk down with a “was it low, was it a legal body shot?’ punch, with Usyk given time to recover. To this day, Dubois’s prompter, Frank Warren, insists his fighter was cheated out of a win.
To this end, a rematch would settle things once and for all. But of course, Parker could well beat Dubois when they fight later this month. As far as Usyk’s career is concerned, if he did come through okay against either Dubois or Parker, it would be very interesting to see who he would fight in his career finale. Who is out there that would both motivate Usyk and excite the fans?
Will Usyk retire unbeaten, at 25-0, and if so, where would he rank amongst the all-time greats of the sport? 2026 could be the year we see the very last ring performance from Usyk.
Speaking of the Dubois-Parker fight, Dubois and his trainer, Don Charles, are now talking about how they will “go through Parker” and then move on to bigger fights. Maybe we could see that Usyk-Dubois rematch later this year.
