OLEKSANDR USYK has a two-man shortlist for the final fight of his career.
The boxing great vacated all of his heavyweight world titles ahead of his “Last Dance”.
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Deontay Wilder pictured with Oleksandr Usyk
Retired UFC legend Jon Jones Credit: Getty
And his advisor Sergey Lapin has told Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger that Deontay Wilder and Jon Jones are at the top of Usyk’s wishlist.
Wilder – the 40-year-old former WBC champion – defeated Derek Chisora in his last fight in April at London’s O2 Arena.
It came after he failed in talks to fight Usyk – who has achieved everything in boxing barring having a major bout in America.
Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel confirmed to JattvibeSport that they are open to making the fight next.
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Jones, 38, meanwhile has not fought in the UFC since beating Stipe Miocic in November 2024.
He walked away from a super-fight with Britain’s UFC heavyweight world champ Tom Aspinall – after retiring in June 2025.
But he remains contracted to the UFC – meaning he is barred from fighting outside of the promotion – including in boxing.
Only Conor McGregor has ever received an exemption to compete outside of his UFC deal for his 2017 crossover bout with Floyd Mayweather.
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August
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Sat 29 – Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic – DAZN
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McGregor was beaten in ten rounds and UFC boss Dana White claimed he would never sanction a similar fight.
That is despite this year launching Zuffa Boxing with the TKO Group that also own the WWE.
Usyk, 39, is coming off a controversial win over kickboxing great Rico Verhoeven, 37, in Egypt in May.
He won with just one second of round 11 left while replays actually appeared to show the bell sounding BEFORE the KO.
Verhoeven – who came into the fight with just one professional boxing bout to his name – failed in his appeal of the result.
Usyk was expected to be called into a mandatory WBC title defence against Agit Kabayel – before announcing that he was relinquishing the belts.
He said: “I want to vacate all the belts I currently hold.
“I want to make them available so the guys who are next in line can fight for them.
“Friends, I’m leaving the belts but I’m not leaving the sport because I still have my last dance.
“I want to thank everyone. I have a great respect for all organisations. I want to thank everyone and say there’s more to come!”
