Usyk Interview; Views on Wardley, Parker, Future Plans, Etc.

Usyk is suffering post Fury clarity

And when Fury AJ is the big fight of 2026 totally over shadowing whoever he fights he may go into a depression....

On paper we need Wardley Kabayel early next year with the winner fighting Usyk. But even then casuals really aren't interested...

Tough position to be in...

 

Well, even if at age 39 (?!) he's going to take a "keep busy" fight then he might as well help himself to one of the two Bridgerweight belts -- so at least he can add something to the record books. Would Kevin Lerena be more dangerous than Wilder?

I suggested this on another thread and got blasted for suggesting Usyk waste his precious time on a no-$$ fight .... but how much $$ would he get for Wilder or Anderson or pretty much anyone other than Wardley or Kabayel or (please no) a trilogy fight...?

 

Usyk has never had a soft opponent in years, he's been fighting punchers and bigger men. He's fought all the very best at cruiserweight and heavyweight.

I wouldn't mind him fighting Wilder in early 2026 - at this time, he should be fighting whoever he wants without criticism. He and Wilder are about the same age (39-40) and Wilder is a former WBC titleholder.

I would like to see him fight TWICE in 2026 however, perhaps Wilder and then Kabayel.

Fury is laying around, growing older and wasting the last years of his 30s, afraid of losing again, still terrified of Joshua.

 

Gimme fights are more of a issue for Usyk because he holds all the belts and is only fighting once a year on average.

If he was fighting 2 or 3 times a year then I could overlook the Wilder fight even though its a rubbish fight.

But when Wilder a totally irrelevant fighter who's totally shot and 2-4 in his last 6 fights. Will be Usyk's only opponent in the last year then I'm more critical.

 

Champions might be entitled to "soft" or "gimme" fights, we could even stretch it and say at his age 39 he is allowed one now even if he's not very active ... and we can also pretend to forget that Daniel Dubois first time around was regarded as one of those "gimme mandatory" type fights .... etc

But Wilder?
he didn't just lose to Parker and Zhang, he was completely outclassed by them, he was in no way competitive, and that was 2 years ago, he was just about absolutely destroyed ruined in the 2nd and 3rd Fury fights back in 2020 and 2021 ...... and he's actually more than a year older than Usyk.

Wilder at this point is worse than Chisora 2, possibly worse than Joe Joyce, as a "gimme". And, no, I'm not asking to see either of those two fights!

 

Yeah this is true Dubois was not ranked in the top 10 prior to the 1st Usyk fight and he had recently been dropped 3 times in his last fight.

Dubois was not seen as a dangerous opponent at the time.

Credit for the Fury, Joshua, fights.

But Dubois 1 was not considered a tough fight for Usyk and neither will Wilder be.

And you're right the way Wilder has lost recently also impacts on it aswell.

If Wilder had lost to Zhang, Parker, but knocked them down and been competitive then maybe you could legitimise this fight somewhat.

But Wilder lost 12-0 to Parker.

Wilder lost every round to Zhang and got highlight reel KO'ed early.

Wilder has not beaten any top 10 ranked Heavyweights since 2019.

People can be a fan of Usyk and still be honest this is a rubbish fight there's no two ways about it. Especially when a shot Wilder will be Usyk's only fight in the past year.

 

Very disappointing. Wilder is done.

If he's gonna fight such low caliber opponents, I'd rather he retired. We don't need another heavyweight champion with Fury type behaviour.

 

Have Wilder get a warmup before fighting Usyk, I recommend Kabayel

 

Usyk is OBVIOUSLY looking only for zero risk fights , regardless how lousy and low pay they are .

not money or legacy fights .

Without a doubt wardley as a world title fight or kabayel as a world title fight would pay off way better than wilder at this stage. Legacy wise of course also but usyk avoids them

 

This.

 

WILDER

 

I’d agree with the above that Usyk doesn’t really need to prove himself, and that he shouldn’t get too much criticism for fighting a soft touch considering his recent track record, his age, and his P4P status. Its not exactly like there is really a proper challenger either - no disrespect to Wardley.

Usyk V Wilder. It really doesn’t get much more boxer v puncher, and this should be pretty one sided.

 

Kabayel would put Wilder in the hospital at this point.

 

I honestly don't know how to feel about it. I wanted Usyk to have a performative stage of his career where he was fighting guys like Wilder, Pereira, and Ruiz, but after fighting Parker and maybe Kabayal. But then, Parker not only managed to lose to Wardley, but also got himself a cocaine ban. That hypothetically leaves Wardley as the "it" guy...except that I, like a majority of fans, didn't really think Wardely won it without some British cooking.

But surely Kabayel deserves his chance. I will say this...I am good with the Wilder fight, but at this point, he should fight Kabayel or surrender the WBC strap.