Ranking the Most Likely Names to Be Oleksandr Usyk's Next (and Final) Opponent

Oleksandr Usyk has never lost a title in the ring. Not once, in twenty-five fights, across two divisions, has any of the world's elite ever figured out the Ukrainian puzzle. And yet, the 39-year-old all-time great is no longer the unified heavyweight champion of the world.

Back on June 26th, the former two-time undisputed champion relinquished three-quarters of the heavyweight pie, with the WBO strap already resting on the shoulder of Daniel Dubois. Just weeks prior, many onlookers and two of the three judges at ringside had Usyk shockingly trailing in a voluntary title defense against kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven, despite the fact that the Dutchman had only ever once fought in the boxing ring before.

Usyk Controversially Beats Rico Before Vacating

Just one look at the betting odds pre-fight told you that the contest should have been a mismatch. Ozoon's boxing betting odds in Canada made Usyk a mighty 3/50 favorite to successfully notch up another victory, with his relative novice opponent out at 13/1. But for the vast majority of the opening ten rounds, it was Verhoeven who was on top, repeatedly pushing Usyk back and landing punches, with the champion seemingly unable to figure out the kickboxer's unusual movement.

None of that mattered in the eleventh as Usyk closed the show, albeit somewhat controversially. The champion dropped the underdog midway through the round, before pouring on the assault with seconds remaining. Referee Mark Lyson then shockingly stepped in to call the fight off, despite Verhoeven still being on his feet and despite the bell signaling the end of the round already ringing.

Regardless, the history books will show that Usyk secured a TKO victory, adding yet another win to his already stellar resume. 25-0, sixteen knockouts, Olympic gold in 2012, the only man to hold the undisputed crown at cruiserweight in the four-belt era before he moved up. Then he beat each of his biggest rivals, namely Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Daniel Dubois, and he beat them all not once, but twice.

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The Ukrainian clearly feels that he no longer has anything left to prove within the sport. That's why he side-stepped what many consider his biggest challenge in the form of German Agit Kabayel, vacating the title rather than battling it out with the slick boxer-puncher. So, with that mouthwatering fight now almost certainly not going to happen, which names are currently linked with being Usyk's next, and final, opponent? Let's take a look.

Deontay Wilder

There was a time that Deontay Wilder didn't need a scorecard — he needed one punch, and the fight was over. That version of him is mostly memory now. He's 45-4-1 with 43 knockouts, but at the age of 40, long stripped of the myth he once was. He has lost two of his last four contests, being folded by Zhilei Zhang in one of them and out-boxed by Joseph Parker across twelve rounds in the other.

His most recent outing did see him return to the win column and also to the excitement bracket. He picked up a split-decision squeaker over veteran war horse Derek Chisora at the O2 in April in the Brit's retirement fight, two cards reading 115-111 and 115-113 Wilder's way, the third 115-112 for Chisora. Wilder at 40 is still capable of ending a night in half a second. He's just no longer capable of guaranteeing it as he did when he reigned as WBC heavyweight champion with an iron fist.

Talks with Usyk's camp reportedly opened back in January and simply stalled — Wilder's side chose the Chisora fight instead of waiting around, which tells you something about how firm those early conversations really were. Now it's Usyk's own sporting director, Sergey Lapin, who's put Wilder at the top of the list, telling The Ring's Mike Coppinger that a fight is being targeted for late 2026 or early 2027 in the United States. Eddie Hearn said much the same thing on the DAZN broadcast of the recent Xander Zayas-Jaron Ennis card in Brooklyn: "As I understand it, Usyk will fight Wilder next."

Read between the lines, and the appeal is obvious — a recognizable name, a puncher's chance dressed up as danger, and about as low a competitive risk as Usyk's team could ask for while still selling out a stadium. He's also the last heavyweight champion of this era Usyk hasn't already shared a ring with, which matters more to the ledger than it does to the betting line.

Jon Jones

Dana White stood in front of cameras in June 2025 and announced that Jon Jones was retired from the world of MMA, opting to walk away and vacate the heavyweight title rather than face off against his biggest threat in years, Tom Aspinall, much like Usyk with Kabayel. Now, the same man is being floated for a boxing ring against the most complete heavyweight technician alive, with zero professional rounds to his name.

Jonny Bones hasn't competed since flattening Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024, and even that reign gets picked apart by critics who note it consisted of a lopsided win over an overmatched Ciryl Gane and a single defense against a 42-year-old coming out of a long layoff. Before the Miocic fight, Jones himself said the goal was "to have one more big fight... and then hang it up from there." He got his one more fight. Now here's another one being dangled in front of him.

Is this a fight, or a spectacle wearing a fight's clothing? Coppinger reports Usyk is genuinely weighing Jones alongside Wilder for that same late 2026 or early 2027 window, and the honest answer is: probably both. There's no boxing history to lean on, no tape to study, nothing but the sheer gravitational pull of putting the greatest mixed martial artist of all time in a ring with a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion. It's Mayweather-McGregor money logic dressed up in heavyweight stakes.

Rico Verhoeven

Verhoeven might deserve this more than either of them, and he's the one being quietly frozen out. He walked into Giza twenty-five pounds heavier than Usyk, trained under Peter Fury, and spent ten rounds making a pound-for-pound great look ordinary. Usyk finally dropped him late in the eleventh; Verhoeven beat the count, and referee Mark Lyson waved it off moments after the bell had already gone — Lyson later admitted as much directly to Fury.

Francis Ngannou called Verhoeven the real winner in public. And when Usyk posted his vacating announcement, Verhoeven didn't wait to be asked: "The last dance. REMATCH TIME. Let's make this the biggest crossover fight of this era."

Nobody in Usyk's camp seems to be answering him. That's the injustice sitting quietly underneath all of this — the man with the strongest merit-based case is currently the one furthest from getting the call.