Oleksandr Usyk recently revealed that he would be vacating all three of his Heavyweight titles ahead of his retirement fight, which is expected to go down either later this year or in early 2027. A few days after that, longtime boxing promoter and Dana White rival, Eddie Hearn, suggested that “The Cat’s” last opponent in the boxing ring would be former champion, Deontay Wilder.
And while that is one of the options, Usyk’s advisor, Sergey Lapin, revealed to The Ring Magazine that the pound-four-pound great is also eyeing a potential slugfest against former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.
Seriously.
Jones, who recently retired (we think) from mixed martial arts (MMA) does not have any pro boxing experience on his resume, and while he is one of the greatest MMA fighters to ever step foot inside the Octagon, going into the world of boxing is an entirely different animal, especially as someone as lethal and accomplished like Usyk. Plus, if “Bones” is still under contract with UFC, locking that fight down might prove to be troublesome.
UFC and Conor McGregor shocked the combat world when they were able to secure a big-money mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather for the longtime champion’s retirement fight, but this potential pairing just doesn’t seem like the type that would have the same buzz as “Notorious” vs “Money.”
At this point, it seems Usyk is trying to secure perhaps the biggest money fight he can before he rides into the sunset since no titles will be up for grabs with whomever he chooses as his final dance partner. Wilder seems like the most realistic bout of the two, but even that one doesn’t carry a lot of intrigue since “The Bronx Bomber” didn’t look all that great in his last win against Derek Chisora earlier this year (see it again here).
Of course, another option could be a rematch against Rico Verhoeven, who gave Usyk all he could handle last month before eventually putting him away in the eleventh round in what was a highly-controversial stoppage (relive it again here).
That said, would you be down for a possible fight between Usyk and Jones?
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