The 2 Fights He Wants Before Ending His Career Revealed

Former undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk intends to fight twice in 2027, despite previously claiming that he had just one bout left in his legendary career.

His planned opponents have been revealed.

Until June, the 39-year-old reigned as the unified world heavyweight champion. However, he shocked the world when he vacated all of his titles, insisting that he planned to retire after having ‘one last dance’ inside the ring.

Oleksandr Usyk Plans to Fight On

Reports quickly surfaced suggesting that his farewell fight would come against American knockout artist Deontay Wilder in early 2027. Those plans, though, have now been scrapped after Zuffa Boxing reportedly refused to meet Usyk’s asking price for the fight.

Wilder is now widely tipped to compete on the Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua undercard in Cardiff on the 11th of December, leaving Usyk without his preferred choice of farewell opponent.

According to Mike Coppinger of The Ring, Team Usyk have reassessed their options, with the Ukrainian identifying two fights that he wants next year.

Usyk ‘Going Big-Name Hunting’ in 2027

“There’s a good reason Oleksandr Usyk vacated his four heavyweight titles,” wrote the veteran journalist on Twitter. “And that’s because he’s going big-name hunting.”

Coppinger then shared the names of the two fighters that Usyk wants to share the ring with before he hangs up his gloves.

“A trilogy with Tyson Fury (if he beats AJ) and David Benavidez are seen as viable options.”

Usyk has already beaten Fury twice, proving himself to be the superior fighter across the 24 rounds that they shared in 2024. ‘The Gypsy King’ has repeatedly demanded a third fight with the one man to ever defeat him, arguing that the judges’ scorecards were wrong on both occasions.

At present, there isn’t huge demand for a trilogy fight between the pair, although this could increase if Fury gets the better of Joshua in their December showdown.

Usyk made the biggest paydays of his career against Fury and would likely be in line for another staggering purse if they meet again.

In terms of pure intrigue, though, a fight between Usyk and undefeated three-weight world champion David Benavidez arguably has more appeal.

Both have never suffered a loss and are considered to be among the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet today. Although ‘The Mexican Monster’ is a reigning world champion at cruiserweight, it is likely that he would make the move up to heavyweight for a clash with Usyk.

Given that he will turn 40 in January, the two fights above could well prove to be the final bouts of Usyk’s career. He has yet to officially confirm if that will be the case, though.