Usyk Will Take A Long Break After Fury Win
Oleksandr Usyk is taking an extended break from boxing following his second victory over Tyson Fury.
Usyk defeated Fury in a unanimous decision to keep his unified heavyweight belts. It was the second time he had beaten Fury in a year, giving the latter his second career defeat. All three judges had it unanimous at 116-112, dispelling any doubts that may have emerged from the first fight. While Fury’s team argued that it was another bad decision, the boxing statistics showed otherwise. Usyk outlanded Fury throughout the fight, making him the more accurate fighter. There are suggestions that Usyk could retire from the sport, given what he has accomplished.
He has been undisputed at cruiserweight and heavyweight, so he joins Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue, who have done it in two weight classes in the four-belt era. Usyk will go down as the best heavyweight of his generation, and he is in the conversation for one of the best of all time. At 38 years old, Usyk has to decide his next steps carefully.
Daniel Dubois called him out in the ring after the Fury victory. They faced off in 2023, with Usyk coming through with a controversial win. Dubois’ body shot dropped Usyk in the fifth round, only for the Ukrainian to be given over three minutes to recover. The referee deemed it a low blow. Usyk eventually stopped Dubois in the ninth round.
Usyk’s Future
There is the opportunity to fight Dubois if he comes through Joseph Parker on February 22 since it will be for undisputed. There are also suggestions Usyk could drop back down to cruiserweight and target a fight there. Usyk is a former undisputed cruiserweight champion. Eddie Hearn has come out to say that he would like his fighter Jai Opetaia to face off against Usyk next. Opetaia is the IBF Cruiserweight Champion, meaning that Usyk would have to defeat him if he had undisputed aspirations again.
“I think Opetaia’s style and it’s great fight. The only fight that I see, I mean, I love Opetaia against Usyk. I just think it’s such a good style match-up. But Jai’s got to earn his stripes as well for that fight. He’s got to win next week, and then he’s probably got to unify against [Gilberto] Ramirez. And then, when he steps up, he can compete weight-wise. It’s a great fight, but he’s got to continue to build his profile. But I don’t see a lot of fights that genuinely excite me for Usyk. He’s done it all. Who else is there for him to beat?: said Hearn about Opetaia,” Hearn said
Usyk’s Return
The other champion in the division is Zurdo Ramirez, the WBA and WBO Cruiserweight Champion. Victories over those two would leave Usyk with only one belt left to chase, the WBC, currently held by Noel Mikaelyan. However, any decisions on the future will not be made until Usyk has taken some time off. His manager, Egis Klimas, has said that Usyk could return to the ring in July or August.
“It’ll be a very long preparation. After another 12 rounds with Fury, he needs a good, long recovery. [It will be close] the end of July or August. [There is no fight lined up]. Dubois has to beat Parker before he can even start thinking of [Usyk],” Klimas said
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