Who to fight next, a bowl of pudding or oatmeal? The fact there's no stand out challenger reeks of the weakness of this division
Yes and if Daniel wins they can sell the controversy and it's a big fight outside of another with Fury or Aj If Parker beats Daniel, then he would be a fitting name to add to his resume
If Usyk fights on then the winner of the Parker v Dubois fight or the winner of the Kabayel v Zhang fight,if he fights on till he’s 40 I would not be surprised if he fought the winners of both these fights tbh .
Next winner of Dubois vs Parker Then winner of Zhang vs Kabayel If someone like Zurdo, Beterbiev, Bivol & Otepaia moves up from LHW/CW to HW - Yes. Unfortunately, I think Beterbiev and Bivol are a totally closed page due to the Ukraine - Russia conflict.
I would much rather him face Opetaia and Beterbiev than continue on the heavyweight carousel where he has nothing to prove (not saying he has anything to prove fighting Opetaia and Beterbiev, I just find these fights more interesting.)
Got to really be dubois v parker winner followed by the fury v joshua winner. Nothing else really out there for him as much as joshua and fury dont deserve a rematch. Oddly enough dubois probably has the best chance to beat him. He was hopeless at times against usyk....but he does have the equaliser to make it at least interesting. I think the best heavyweight debate is finished regardless of what happens now but fury still has a small claim for one more go of it if he can get himself in better shape and finish joshuas career and proves himself worthy of a rematch. Although hope parker beats dubois just to see a different style/fighter in with usyk at least.
I hope he retires it, there’s no reward for beating anyone else, but I saw an interview today where he said he will fight who Turki tells him to, so he must have some sort of contract with Turki for a certain number of fights. I think Parker could take him to a place where he hasn’t been at heavyweight, where he doesn’t have as much of a stamina advantage in the latter rounds, all the heavyweights he’s faced have tired in the second half of the fight. Parker definitely carries more energy in the latter stages but I think he would get knocked out by usyk before that would be a problem. Ituma is a talent but he doesn’t deserve that much of foot up in the game, he has to fight his way into contention (should have to, but Turki does what he wants) I think it will be Dubois, not because he has unfinished business (I think it was a legal shot) but because he was a prat when he rushed in the ring and did the worst call out in boxing history, he actually panicked and started calling frank. Imagine not having anything left to prove in this sport
Who is The Bridgerweight Champion now? Is it Muslim Gadzhimagomedov or Kevin Lerena? I have trouble keeping up with that division. Maybe Oleksandr Usyk can grab a belt in the Bridgerweight division, too! I think he just needs to weigh in under 225 pounds, which should be no problem, and he can then be officially a 3 division champion.
He should retire as he has completed boxing and there is nobody around that will add to his legacy but if he wants to stick around for the love of the sport and a few more pay days he may as well just make his mandatories the way Klitchko used to.
Realistically Usyk's next fight if he fancies it as he already has proved he is an ATG - should be against the winner of Parker/Dubois. After Parker/Dubois, the winner of Zhang/Kabayel, although the winner of Zhang/Kabayel might have a fight in the meantime (hopefully Bakole if they do) as Parker/Dubois V Usyk gets it on. Opetaia may be Usyk's toughest challenger but he still has a couple more fights at CW, against Nyika and Zurdo, and maybe a warm up gatekeeper fight at HW.
I'd like to see him in against Opetaia and Kabayel before he retires, but won't grudge him if both or either fail to happen. Otherwise winner of Dubois and Parker maybe? Bakole? Zhang? I dunno, there are no real risks out there for him anymore. He's won the sport of boxing.