{"id":215461,"date":"2025-10-21T12:43:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T12:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/215461\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T12:43:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T12:43:07","slug":"oleksandr-usyks-advisor-reveals-frontrunner-for-next-fight-as-tyson-fury-snubbed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/215461\/","title":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk&#8217;s advisor reveals frontrunner for next fight as Tyson Fury snubbed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Oleksandr Usyk is planning to return to the ring in the first half of 2026 against the winner of Joseph Parker vs Fabio Wardley.<\/p>\n<p>That is according to the Ukrainian&#8217;s advisor, Sergey Lapin, who insists his client is likely to compete five more times before hanging up his gloves.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The winner of Parker vs Wardley is the frontrunner to face Usyk next\" height=\"540\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/crop-3662016.jpg\" data-caption=\"The winner of Parker vs Wardley is the frontrunner to face Usyk next\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/crop-3662016.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>2<\/p>\n<p>The winner of Parker vs Wardley is the frontrunner to face Usyk nextCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/joseph-parker\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Parker<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/fabio-wardley\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wardley<\/a> square off on<a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/boxing\/3661627\/where-to-watch-joseph-parker-vs-fabio-wardley-tv-channel-live-stream\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Saturday night at London&#8217;s O2 Arena for the WBO interim title.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The WBO has ordered <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/oleksandr-usyk\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Usyk<\/a> to face whoever emerges victorious from the bout after he was <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/boxing\/3533955\/oleksandr-usyk-world-title-decision-joseph-parker\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">granted a medical extension in September due to a lingering back injury.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Several preeminent voices, including Parker, voiced concerns that Usyk may opt to vacate his belt and go a different route.<\/p>\n<p>A trilogy fight with <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/tyson-fury\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyson Fury<\/a> has been floated around in recent weeks, with the Mancunian eyeing a comeback next year.<\/p>\n<p>Oleksandr Usyk&#8217;s advisor reveals frontrunner for next fight as Tyson Fury snubbed <\/p>\n<p>However,<a href=\"https:\/\/ringmagazine.com\/en\/news\/oleksandr-usyk-wants-parker-wardley-winner-next-tyson-fury-moses-itauma\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" Lapin has poured doubts on a third fight (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"> Lapin has poured doubts on a third fight<\/a> ever taking place as Usyk has already beaten the Brit twice.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Theoretically, it\u2019s an interesting option, but for whom?\u201d Lapin asked Ring Magazine. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf boxing fans truly support it, then maybe. However, in my opinion, that chapter is already closed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>How likely is a fight with Moses Itauma?<\/p>\n<p>Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh is keen to match Usyk with rising star <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/moses-itauma\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Moses Itauma<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Chatham southpaw has barely put a foot wrong during a perfect 13-0 start to life in the paid ranks and made a big statement in August by blasting away <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/dillian-whyte\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dillian Whyte<\/a> in one round.<\/p>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/boxing\/3652488\/oleksandr-usyk-stance-moses-itauma-fight-negotiations-return\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Usyk recently ruled out Itauma as a potential dance partner<\/a> for his next fight, Lapin insists they will welcome the challenge once the precocious talent has proven himself at the elite level.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Itauma has been floated around as a potential opponent for Usyk\" height=\"670\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"GETTY\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2230495757.jpg\" data-caption=\"Itauma has been floated around as a potential opponent for Usyk\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2230495757.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>2<\/p>\n<p>Itauma has been floated around as a potential opponent for UsykCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say he doesn\u2019t want to fight Itauma,\u201d Lappin added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a promising fighter, and his team has done a good job bringing him to this level and ranking. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But if we analyse the heavyweight division, besides Usyk, there are plenty of top fighters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cItauma still needs a serious test before facing a legend. Have we seen him go the full 12-round distance? <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Has has been in dangerous situations in the ring? My answer is no. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At this stage, he doesn\u2019t have the tools to beat Usyk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk is planning to return to the ring in the first half of 2026 against the winner&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,6102,77989,9254,16171,15920,4036,101,6901,56,54,55,11555,15921,904],"class_list":{"0":"post-215461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-boxing-news","10":"tag-fabio-wardley","11":"tag-joseph-parker","12":"tag-moses-itauma","13":"tag-next-fight","14":"tag-oleksandr-usyk","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-tyson-fury","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-unitedkingdom","20":"tag-when","21":"tag-where","22":"tag-who"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}