Regardless of what happens in his rematch with IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET, DAZN PPV — buy now), WBA, WBC and WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk already has a Hall of Fame resume. Beating Dubois would make Usyk — a former undisputed cruiserweight champion — undisputed heavyweight champion for the second time in his career.
While it could be dangerous to get ahead of yourself by assuming Dubois, a talented and hard-hitting heavyweight, will come up short against Usyk in the rematch, it’s hard not to look ahead and wonder what is left for Usyk to accomplish.
Usyk is 23-0 since turning professional after winning gold at the 2012 Olympics. He unified the four cruiserweight world championships by winning the World Boxing Super Series. After beating every name of note in the division, Usyk moved up to heavyweight where he holds two wins over Anthony Joshua, two wins over Tyson Fury, the first of which unified all four heavyweight titles, and — for now — a win over Dubois.
At 38 years old, it’s fair to wonder how much longer Usyk will continue fighting and what mountains are left that he wants to climb.
One thing is clear, however, and that is Usyk’s statement that he will fight one more time in Ukraine before he retires.
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Knowing that Usyk has plans for at least one more fight, we can look ahead to what viable challenges remain should he defeat Dubois on Saturday.
A trilogy fight with Tyson Fury
Usyk clearly showed his superiority to Fury in their first two fights, leading to Fury announcing yet another “retirement” no one expected to stick. Predictably, Fury is now planning for a comeback and promoter Frank Warren has said the two-time former heavyweight champion is seeking a third fight with Usyk.
It’s not a fight that needs to happen after Usyk won both prior meetings, but it’s hard to argue that there’s a fight for Usyk that would do bigger business than what Fury could bring.
A fight with Joseph Parker
Parker is the biggest name Usyk has yet to fight and is riding a six-fight winning streak that makes him a legitimate championship contender. In his three most recent fights, Parker defeated Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole, with the Bakole fight coming together on a day’s notice.
Parker is a former WBO heavyweight champion but has often stumbled against the better competition he has faced. There are some questions about the quality of his recent wins, with Wilder barely throwing punches in their fight, Zhang’s worst traits showing up and Bakole stepping in clearly out of shape after flying halfway around the world the day before the fight. But Parker deserves credit for what he has done and is clearly deserving of a world title opportunity.
Giving a shot to Agit Kabayel
At 26-0, the 32-year-old German has been a breakout fighter in the era of big fights in Saudi Arabia. He exposed then-undefeated Arslanbek Makhmudov with a TKO on the undercard of Wilder vs. Parker, knocked out undefeated Frank Sanchez on the undercard of Fury vs. Usyk and knocked out Zhang on the undercard of Dmitry Bivol’s rematch with Artur Beterbiev.
That is a dominant run under the bright lights of some of the biggest cards in recent years. You could make the case that Kabayel is more deserving of a title shot than Parker, but Parker is the bigger name. Kabayel is a real threat to anyone at heavyweight. Kabayel is also a fighter who would likely be easier to get to fight in Ukraine than fighters like Fury and Parker, who would likely demand a much bigger purse and therefore need a fight in a location that can support it financially.
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