Usyk opens the final chapter of his career: Wilder is the biggest boxing option, while Jon Jones remains a complex crossover scenario
Oleksandr Usyk has once again placed the heavyweight scene before a major question: what will the final act of the career of one of the most successful boxers of the modern era look like? After announcing on June 26, 2026, that he was vacating the WBC, WBA and IBF titles, the Ukrainian boxer made it clear that he was not immediately retiring from the sport, but that he wanted one more major appearance. According to Reuters' report, Usyk said in a social media post that he was freeing up the belts so that contenders waiting in the rankings could fight for them, but at the same time emphasized that his "last dance" awaits him. With that, he formally closed the period in which mandatory defenses and organizational schedules determined a large part of his professional path. In the new situation, the name most often mentioned is Deontay Wilder, the former WBC champion and one of the best-known heavyweights of the last decade, while a possible crossover with Jon Jones from the world of MMA is still viewed as an attractive, but significantly more complex idea.
Leaving the belts is not the same as saying goodbye to the ring
Usyk's decision is important because it does not represent a classic sporting retirement, but a controlled departure from championship obligations. According to Reuters, the 39-year-old Ukrainian vacated the WBC, WBA and IBF titles in order to focus on the final fight of his career, probably in the United States. Such a move changes his negotiating position: he is no longer tied to mandatory defenses against official challengers, but he retains the status of an undefeated major name who can attract audiences and promoters regardless of belts. In professional boxing, this is not an unusual transition in the late stage of a career, especially for fighters who have already won almost everything that could be won. The difference is that Usyk is leaving from the top, after a period in which he was simultaneously a symbol of technical superiority, discipline and adaptability in the heaviest division.
According to the WBO's official resolution, Usyk had already vacated the WBO heavyweight title in November 2025, after which Fabio Wardley was elevated from interim status to full champion of that organization. This means that the process of separating himself from the belts began before the latest announcement and that it was not an impulsive move, but a direction that had clearly been maturing within his team for months. The WBO documentation also shows how important procedures, interim champions, mandatory challengers and deadlines prescribed by organizations are in modern boxing. For a fighter thinking about the final stage of his career, such a framework can be restrictive, because it imposes opponents according to administrative logic, and not necessarily according to market or sporting-historical value. Usyk is now trying to do the opposite: choose the final challenge according to his own assessment and according to the weight that fight would have in his legacy.
Why Wilder stands out as the most likely choice
Deontay Wilder has obvious commercial and sporting appeal for Usyk. According to ESPN's profile, Wilder held the WBC heavyweight belt from 2015 to 2020 and defended it ten times, building the status of one of the most recognizable champions of his generation. His career was never based on the kind of technical variety Usyk possesses, but on rare punching power, especially in his right hand, which for years changed the course of fights in a single moment. That is precisely why their meeting would be easy for a wider audience to understand: on one side would stand a boxer who controls rhythm, angles and distance, and on the other a puncher who, even in the late stages of a fight, can create a finish with one precise shot. For a portal and promoters, that is a clear story, and for Usyk an opponent missing from the list of major heavyweight names he has faced.
The negotiating trail is not new. At the end of 2025, The Independent reported a statement by Usyk's manager Egis Klimas that a fight with Wilder was "very likely", that talks were taking place with Wilder's team and that Las Vegas and Los Angeles had been mentioned as possible locations. The same source states that Klimas saw Wilder as one of the biggest names Usyk had not yet fought, which fits well into the current logic of the "last dance". According to ESPN, Wilder defeated Derek Chisora in April 2026 and improved his record to 45 wins, four losses and one draw, with 43 knockouts. That result does not erase the fact that in previous years he had suffered heavy defeats and longer periods of searching for form, but it confirms that he remains relevant enough for a major event. For Usyk, who no longer has to defend titles against mandatory challengers, that can be a desirable combination of name recognition, risk and commercial value.
A sporting contrast that sells without exaggeration
A possible match between Usyk and Wilder would have clear sporting drama, but it should not be presented as a fight between two boxers at an identical point in their careers. Usyk has remained undefeated, with a reputation as a boxer who transferred his skill from cruiserweight to heavyweight without losing his identity. According to the WBC, his heavyweight run has included victories over Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois, and in March 2026 the organization highlighted his unusual activity at the highest level. Wilder, by contrast, has already experienced a fall from the top after the trilogy with Fury and later defeats, but he has retained what makes him dangerous: punching power that cannot be measured only by wins and losses. It is precisely that contrast that makes the fight relevant even without belts.
For Usyk, a victory over Wilder would round off the list of generational rivals and further strengthen the narrative that he has solved almost every stylistic puzzle in the heavyweight division. He has beaten technically different boxers, physically larger opponents and multiple champions, while Wilder would bring the specific threat of extreme punching power. For Wilder, the same match would be an opportunity for a late return to the center of attention and the biggest victory of his career if he stopped the undefeated Ukrainian. That is why it is realistic to expect the promotion to be focused on whether Usyk's precision can neutralize Wilder's strongest asset or whether, at some point, a punch that changes everything will land. Such a message is powerful enough even without a belt on the table, which is often decisive in the final fights of great careers.
The heavyweight division after Usyk's withdrawal from championship obligations
Usyk's vacating of the belts simultaneously opens space for other heavyweights. Reuters reported that Agit Kabayel, who held the status of interim WBC champion, could be promoted to full champion after Usyk's decision. The WBO had already earlier resolved its own situation through the official decision on Wardley, while the WBO's official website now lists Daniel Dubois among the men's heavyweight champions, after his victory over Wardley on May 9, 2026. Such an arrangement confirms how quickly the heavyweight picture changes when a dominant champion gives up the belts. Instead of one central figure, the division enters a phase of fragmentation, in which different organizations can open separate paths toward titles.
For boxers who have been waiting for mandatory opportunities, this is an important moment, because a fight for a belt no longer has to go through Usyk. For promoters, this means more possible combinations, more title fights and a greater possibility for individual markets to be tied to different champions. For fans, however, such a situation can be a double-edged sword: it brings new dynamics, but also the familiar confusion of multiple champions, interim belts and different rankings. Usyk was for years a figure who at least temporarily simplified the top of the heavyweight division, especially after he unified the most important titles in the four-belt era. His departure from that system does not reduce the value of his achievement, but it shows how quickly boxing returns to its own complex administrative reality.
The American market as the final stage
In the context of Wilder, the American dimension is especially important. Reuters reported the statement by Usyk's sporting director Sergey Lapin that Usyk's goal is to end his legendary career with final fights in the United States, where he wants to leave the last chapter of his boxing legacy. Such wording explains why Wilder, despite fluctuating form, constantly returns to the conversation. He is an American name with a recognizable nickname, a history with the WBC belt and a knockout image that transfers easily into global promotion. In addition, possible locations such as Las Vegas or Los Angeles have a long history of staging major boxing events and a clear commercial infrastructure. If Usyk wants a final match that will simultaneously be a sporting challenge and an international event, Wilder is a more logical choice than many younger, but less famous challengers.
That does not mean the agreement is simple. Contracts, television and streaming partners, financial terms, medical checks, location selection and a precise date are needed. Wilder's team must assess the risk of entering a fight against a technically superior undefeated opponent, while Usyk's team must weigh how dangerous it is to end a career against a puncher whose threat does not completely diminish even when he is in an inferior position. At the same time, a fight without belts can simplify some elements, because there are no longer obligations to organizations that would determine challengers and deadlines. In that sense, Usyk's renunciation of the titles is not only symbolic, but also practical: it removes obstacles that could delay or prevent the chosen farewell scenario.
Jon Jones as a bigger spectacle, but also a more difficult project
A crossover with Jon Jones remains an intriguing idea, but for now it does not have the same level of operational clarity as a boxing match with Wilder. According to SecondsOut, which carried Sergey Lapin's comments from an interview with Casino Stugan, Usyk's team has not ruled out creative collaborations and mentioned Jones in the United States as an interesting possible duel. Such a statement has promotional weight because it would pit one of the best boxers of his generation against one of the most successful MMA fighters of the modern era. But the difference between talking about a crossover and actually organizing a fight is enormous. Rules, format, regulatory framework, medical conditions, contractual obligations and the sporting logic of a duel that belongs to neither the standard boxing nor MMA calendar would all have to be agreed.
Jones's status further complicates the picture. According to the official UFC profile, Jones vacated the UFC heavyweight title in June 2025, and fought his last bout in the organization in November 2024, when he stopped Stipe Miočić. ESPN previously reported that UFC president Dana White announced Jones's retirement from competition and that Tom Aspinall became the UFC heavyweight champion. Even if Jones were interested in returning in some form of combat spectacle, the question is under what rules he would compete and who would control the commercial rights. A boxing match against Wilder has a known model, a known audience and a clear sporting tradition. Usyk against Jones would have enormous promotional potential, but would require the construction of an event almost from scratch.
What must happen for the match to become official
As of June 29, 2026, there is no officially confirmed date, location or opponent for Usyk's final appearance. According to the available information, Wilder is the most prominent and most practical boxing option, especially because his team had already previously been in talks about that fight, and Usyk's team has publicly spoken about an American ending to his career. Still, until there are signed contracts and a promoter's announcement, this is the most realistic direction, not a scheduled event. The crossover with Jones should be viewed even more cautiously, as a possibility mentioned by Usyk's circle, but without a clear competitive framework. In professional sport, such ideas often also serve as negotiating pressure, because they increase a fighter's value and broaden the range of potential partners.
With his decision, Usyk has taken control of the final part of his career, but in doing so he has also opened a new kind of risk. Without belts, he is no longer defending the formal status of champion, but the reputation of an undefeated boxer who wants to determine for himself the last image he will leave to the public. Wilder would be an opponent who can make that image simple, understandable and dangerous: a final duel against a major American puncher who still carries a name and knockout power. Jones would be a greater step outside the traditional boxing framework, but also a project with many more unknowns. That is why, at this moment, the firmest line of Usyk's future leads toward the ring, toward the United States and toward an opponent who would give him another major headline without the need for any belt to be on the table.
Sources:
- Reuters / WDEZ – report on Usyk vacating the WBC, WBA and IBF belts, his statement about the "last dance", the context of his career and Lapin's comment about final fights in the USA (link)
- The Independent – earlier statements by Egis Klimas about a possible match between Usyk and Deontay Wilder, talks with Wilder's team and possible locations in the USA (link)
- World Boxing Organization – official resolution on Usyk vacating the WBO heavyweight title and elevating Fabio Wardley to full champion status (link)
- World Boxing Organization – official page of men's champions, including Daniel Dubois's status in the heavyweight division (link)
- World Boxing Council – official text on the status of the WBC heavyweight division, Usyk's activity and the approval of a voluntary defense in March 2026 (link)
- ESPN – profile of Deontay Wilder with data on the period in which he held the WBC title and the number of belt defenses (link)
- ESPN – report on Wilder's victory over Derek Chisora and updated professional record (link)
- SecondsOut – report of Sergey Lapin's statement about a possible crossover with Jon Jones and other creative combat formats (link)
- UFC – official profile of Jon Jones with data on his last UFC fight and vacating the heavyweight title in June 2025 (link)