Usyk Outlines His Retirement Plan

Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) has officially laid out his last few fights.

Usyk’s journey back to the ring begins in Cairo, Egypt, as he defends his WBC heavyweight title against 12-year Glory Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Rico Verhoeven on May 23. This marks Usyk’s first outing since his fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois in July 2025, which saw him crowned undisputed heavyweight champion for a second time. Following that victory, Usyk vacated the WBO portion of his title rather than face mandatory challenger Fabio Wardley, a move that led to Wardley being elevated to full champion status.

Usyk was also quick to shut down accusations that he is “ducking” the unbeaten Fabio Wardley. Instead, he has set his sights on the winner of the domestic “mega-fight” between Wardley and Dubois, scheduled for May 9, 2026, in Manchester.

The grand finale of Usyk’s career is slated to be a third and final encounter with Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury. Usyk currently leads the rivalry 2-0 after two convincing victories in 2024. Despite the lopsided history, Usyk views Fury as the ultimate high-level chess match to end his professional career. Fury is set to end his short retirement on April 11, 2026, against Arslanbek Makhmudov. Darren Barker felt Usyk had earned the right to choose who he fights.

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“With that said, in my opinion Usyk can do what he wants. He’s the governor. He’s a modern living legend and he’s pretty much fought everybody. If this is the fight that’s going to generate him the most money, then good luck to him. Not surprisingly, I reckon he wins it comfortably. I’ve not seen bundles of Verhoeven but he’s been in and around Tyson Fury’s camp and Peter Fury’s training him, so he’s in safe hands.

“But you’re talking about taking on one of the best to ever do it in the history of boxing. Commercially, it makes sense, it will do big numbers — and these crossover fights do capture the imagination. As we saw with Francis Ngannou against Fury and then against Anthony Joshua, people are just intrigued. I think this one will have that same intrigue,” Barker said