Also changes things a bit if it means "I will fight until I turn 41, retire when I turn 41" vs "I will fight in my 41st year, retire when I turn 42" Though getting a bit literal there
There is a difference between fighting the best until he is 41, and fighting until he is 41. He could slowly drop his titles and have one or two more fights at the top level and then move onto cashing out in more fun fights. Or he could even just go straight to the cash out fun fights. If he keeps fighting at the top level until 41, I think its likely he catches a loss. Like someone else said Usyk's style uses a lot of mobility and stamina, things that can drop of quickly with age. He still has chin and decent power, plus years of experience and skill, but his chances of losing will go up exponentially.
Best-oldest HW wins 1994 Foreman (45) vs Moorer, KO10 1992 Holmes (42) vs Mercer, UD12 2020 Povetkin (40) vs Whyte, KO5 2012 Vitali (40) vs Chisora, UD12 2023 Zhang (40) vs Joyce, KO3 Caveats: Foreman had a 10 year break from pro boxing matches, Holmes over 3 years off post-Tyson, Vitali over 4 years off. Zhang's shedule has been lighter. Usyk, like Povetkin, has not had an extended break, increasing wear. Three of the five best wins by 40+ HW's were by brutal KO, despite KO wins being less frequent relative to decision wins as fighters get older. This suggests that punchers age better than pointfighters at HW, which isn't favourable for Usyk. Good wins at 40+ have become more common in recent years however, which favours Usyk if he plans to have another 2-3 fights and retire before 41.
But Usyk doesn't go down...at least by legal shots. Unless father time hit him in the nuts, I like Usyk!
In a new article from The Ring, Oleksandr Usyk’s team director Serhii Lapin stated that, at this stage, five more fights are being considered before the end of Usyk’s career.