Oleksandr Usyk, the unified heavyweight boxing champion, has stated he is thinking about returning to the cruiserweight division. The Ukrainian is coming off of two outstanding wins over Anthony Joshua in which he won and then successfully defended the WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight world championships.
With Tyson Fury holding the only other major heavyweight championship in the category, the WBC heavyweight title, this reportedly set up an exciting undisputed matchup.
Usyk, however, declared himself ineligible to compete for the remainder of 2022 due to an injury, thus The Gypsy King began hunting for a replacement opponent for later in the year.
It had been anticipated that Fury would face Joshua, but that fight fell through. It is currently unknown who Fury will face next, but he is getting ready for the battle on December 3 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. Usyk recently disclosed that he is thinking about moving back to cruiserweight, which means the highly anticipated matchup with Fury might never take place.
The Ukrainian claims that competing at heavyweight is simple for him but expresses frustration over how much food he has consumed to reach the required weight.
In a recent interview with Parimach, Usyk stated, “I was thinking about going back to cruiserweight and collecting a few more world belts.”
It takes a lot of effort to train for six months. For such a long period, I didn’t see anyone or my wife, kids, or family.
Usyk defeated Marco Huck, Marius Briedis, and Murat Gassiev in their own backyards to claim all four belts prior to his switch to the heavyweight division.
After successfully defending them against Tony Bellew in the UK, The Cat moved up to heavyweight where he defeated Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora rather than accept a world title fight right away.
The cruiserweight belts, which are now held by Arsen Goulamirian, Ilunga Makabu, Jai Opetaia, and Lawrence Okolie, have dispersed since he left.
Usyk’s most recent remarks have prompted a response from Fury, who told Behind the Gloves: “He’s like a snack size, sort of man.” Most days, I have more for breakfast than he does.
In December, he was given the chance to fight in Saudi Arabia but turned it down. He couldn’t have been carried there by an unruly herd of horses. Joshua, his companion, was also impossible to dredge there.
