{"id":351579,"date":"2026-01-04T11:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T11:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/351579\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T11:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T11:44:16","slug":"oleksandr-usyk-reveals-how-many-fights-he-has-left-as-he-changes-retirement-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/351579\/","title":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk reveals how many fights he has left as he changes retirement plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oleksandr Usyk intends to stick around longer than he had initially suggested.<\/p>\n

Ahead of his rematch with Daniel Dubois<\/a> in July, Usyk insisted that he would have one more dance before hanging up his gloves.<\/p>\n

\"Usyk<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Usyk initially declared his most recent outing against Dubois would be his penultimate professional boutCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Usyk has achieved everything there is to achieve during an illustrious, undefeated career that has seen him reign supreme over both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.<\/p>\n

His recent decision to relinquish the WBO heavyweight title rather than fight Fabio Wardley<\/a> suggests he is no longer interested in taking on dangerous up-and-comers.<\/p>\n

This viewpoint was further reinforced by the Ukrainian calling out a past-his-best Deontay Wilder<\/a> for a lucrative showdown in 2026.<\/p>\n

Wilder remains the final big name from Usyk’s generation that he has yet to lock horns with, in what would serve as a fitting final bow for ‘The Cat’.<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON BOXING Oleksandr Usyk reveals surprise fight he wants next after vacating world title<\/p>\n

However, in a recent interview with Ring Magazine, Usyk declared that his next fight will not be his last.<\/p>\n

“I think two or three more fights,” he said when asked how many more times he intends to step between the ropes.<\/p>\n

These comments further reinforce the timeline he laid out in October.<\/a><\/p>\n

“I will box until I am 41,” he told Ready To Fight. <\/p>\n

“And then I will build a Sports Academy, and I will train there.”<\/p>\n

Usyk celebrates his 39th birthday on January 17, and so partaking in two or three more fights over the next couple of years is very achievable – as is a bout with Wilder.<\/p>\n

\"Usyk<\/a><\/p>\n

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Usyk is expected to face Wilder nextCredit: GETTYOleksandr Usyk vs Deontay Wilder negotiations are underway<\/p>\n

Negotiations between both camps are already underway, and according to Wilder, discussions have been ‘very promising’.<\/p>\n

“Just the excitement that it has drawn for boxing fans has been amazing, and I don’t doubt that it’s going to happen, especially at this moment in time of negotiation; it looks very promising,” said Wilder.<\/p>\n

“My heart is pumping right now just to get back in there. <\/p>\n

“This is something that I need, this is something that I’ve been waiting on to get myself back together mentally, because physically, nothing ever happened physically, it was just all mental – get myself mentally back together.<\/p>\n

“And now that I’m here and I get this opportunity, it’s a beautiful thing, so I’m looking forward to it. <\/p>\n

“Hopefully, negotiation goes just as smooth as it’s going now, and everything is agreed upon fairly.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk intends to stick around longer than he had initially suggested. Ahead of his rematch with Daniel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,6102,12117,2363,15920,4036,4204,101,56,54,55,4862,11555,15921,904],"class_list":["post-351579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-news","tag-deontay-wilder","tag-negotiations","tag-next-fight","tag-oleksandr-usyk","tag-retirement","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-update","tag-when","tag-where","tag-who"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351579","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=351579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}