Oleksandr Usyk targeting Deontay Wilder for next title defense: ‘He is first option’

Deontay Wilder may have fallen out of the top of the heavyweight rankings over the past few years, but division kingpin Oleksandr Usyk would still like to share the ring with the former champion. Usyk, who holds the WBA, IBF and WBC titles, recently claimed Wilder is his preferred next opponent.

“I spoke with my team and said he is the first option,” Usyk told Boxing King Media. “I want to fight Deontay Wilder. I think it’s interesting. … He is a world champion guy. A very famous and strong guy, one of the great heavyweights of the last 10 years.”

Usyk (24-0, 15 KO) last fought in July, dominating Daniel Dubois en route to a fifth round knockout. The win over Dubois saw Usyk crowned undisputed heavyweight champion for the second time in his career, having first accomplished the task with his May 2024 win over Tyson Fury.

Usyk was stripped of the IBF title after the Fury win, a result of pursuing the contractually obligated Fury rematch rather than defend against an IBF mandatory challenger. Dubois picked up that IBF title, while Usyk again defeated Fury before grabbing the IBF title back from Dubois.

Usyk would go on to vacate the WBO title, which has since been won by Fabio Wardley. Usyk is also a former undisputed cruiserweight champion.

Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KO) spent the majority of his career as one of the most feared punchers in boxing history. His one-punch knockout power made him a star while also going unbeaten in his first 43 professional fights.

Wilder won the WBC title in January 2015 and made 10 successful defenses of the belt before a February 2020 stoppage loss to Fury. A second loss to Fury followed soon after.

Wilder got back in the win column with a first-round knockout of Robert Helenius before dropping a decision to Joseph Parker and suffering a knockout loss to Zhilei Zhang. In those losses, Wilder looked as though he was having trouble pulling the trigger, throwing very few punches and looking as though he’d aged overnight.

In June, Wilder returned to the ring, knocking out unheralded Tyrrell Herndon in the seventh round.

Wilder is currently ranked No. 13 by the WBC and is unranked by the other three major sanctioning bodies.