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Oleksandr Usyk earned another defense of his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles following a ninth-round TKO win over Daniel Dubois last night in Wroclaw, Poland. However, it was not without controversy. Dubois dropped Usyk in the fifth round with a shot that was deemed below the belt by the referee. Many observers, though, including Dubois and his promoter Frank Warren believe it was a legal shot and that the referee helped the Ukrainian out by giving him time to recover.
Regardless of the controversy, Usyk remains the champion for now and has a few options for his next fight. So with that said, here are three potential fights for Oleksandr Usyk.
Tyson Fury
The fight everyone in the combat sports world — including Oleksandr Usyk — wants to see is him against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Even after beating Dubois, Usyk declared his intentions to face the Briton at any given date.
“I’m ready tomorrow,” Usyk said post-fight. “I’m ready. Next fight I am ready to fight Tyson Fury but does Tyson Fury want to? I have no idea.”
It's fair for Usyk to be skeptical as to whether Fury wants the fight. After all, many observers believe it was “The Gypsy King” who prevented a heavyweight title unification clash from coming to fruition by continually pricing himself out and making negotiations tough earlier this year. There was another attempt to make the fight happen in Saudi Arabia later this year only for that, too, to fail.
Fury, however, claims the fight didn't come together because of Usyk, but believes it would be an easy one for him if it did end up happening.
“We don’t really know the reasons why Usyk didn’t take the fight in April,” Fury said recently. “I’m sure he’s got his reasons. Then we find out he signs with Skills Challenge [Promotions], the Saudi Arabia boxing people. Whatever his reasons are, I’m sure it’s to suit him and his family. It is what it is.
“I do believe that you can only do what you can do in this sport—if the fight’s available at the time you take them and if they’re not available then you can’t take them. Will we fight in the future? Hopefully. I like to, I always believed it’s an easy fight.”
Ultimately, where there's a will, there's a way and if both fighters really want it, a fight could easily be made. Just ask Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. Usyk's done his part by beating Dubois — Fury just has to beat Francis Ngannou as expected and hopefully, boxing fans will get to see the fight in early 2024. That is…if the mandatories can be pushed aside.
Filip Hrgovic
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Unfortunately, when you're a champion with three belts, you have mandatories to fulfill. Oleksandr Usyk fulfilled his WBA mandatory by beating Dubois. However, he could now end up being booked against IBF mandatory Filip Hrgovic, who TKO'd Demsey McKean earlier this month to improve to 16-0. At least, that's according to his Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn.
“He [Hrgovic] needed to get that fight, he needed to be active, and also the IBF confirmed that, after the Usyk-Dubois fight, they will call the immediate mandatory now for Filip Hrgovic,” Hearn said. “So he will fight the winner of that next.”
It's an underwhelming option in reality as Hrgovic is only a known entity to hardcore boxing fans at best. However, he remains a viable option nonetheless.
Winner of Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce rematch
Another (kind of) mandatory could come in the form of the winner of the Zhilei Zhang vs. Joe Joyce rematch. Joyce was undefeated at 15-0 and was the WBO interim champion. However, he was TKO'd by Zhang in April after the doctor called off the action due to the damage he had suffered on his eye. The rematch is now set for September and the winner — being the WBO interim champion — could essentially be Usyk's next mandatory opponent.
In this scenario, the winner would at least be a bigger name than Hrgovic with fans being just a bit more invested in the fight — especially if it's Joyce who comes out on top. However, once again, the option as a fight is still an underwhelming one and a step down from the opponent everyone wants to see Oleksandr Usyk fight and that's Tyson Fury.
Conclusion
Hopefully in the end, all the parties — including the WBO and IBF boxing bodies — can come to an agreement over a Fury vs. Usyk fight and boxing gets its first unified champion in the division since the days of Lennox Lewis.
