{"id":423657,"date":"2026-02-13T13:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/423657\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T13:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:32:07","slug":"former-heavyweight-champion-says-usyk-gave-him-his-word-they-will-fight-ill-keep-him-to-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/423657\/","title":{"rendered":"Former heavyweight champion says Usyk &#8216;gave him his word&#8217; they will fight: &#8220;I&#8217;ll keep him to it&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnewsonline.net\/boxer\/oleksandr-usyk\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oleksandr Usyk<\/a>\u2019s next move remains uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>The unified heavyweight world champion is expected to return to action this summer, but he continues to be linked with a host of potential opponents and one former heavyweight ruler has revealed that the Ukrainian has personally assured him their long-awaited fight will happen.<\/p>\n<p>Usyk had been linked to a showdown with <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnewsonline.net\/boxer\/deontay-wilder\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Deontay Wilder<\/a> at the beginning of the year, but <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnewsonline.net\/news\/former-heavyweight-champion-on-usyk\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">prolonged negotiations led to Wilder instead opting to take on Derek Chisora, for what will be both men\u2019s 50th professional contest<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Usyk has been mentioned for a meeting with former unified world champion Andy Ruiz Jr, as well as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/boxing\/story\/_\/id\/47815244\/rico-verhoeven-mix-major-heavyweight-fights-amid-oleksandr-usyk-claim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">shock bout against Dutch kickboxer, Rico Verhoeven<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This week, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman announced that Usyk has requested a voluntary defence of his titles, but that he <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnewsonline.net\/news\/oleksandr-usyk-wbc-order\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">must then take on WBC Interim champion Agit Kabayel<\/a> in the fight that follows to avoid being stripped.<\/p>\n<p>However, when speaking with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@gunman_boxing\/video\/7605334982155898134?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gunman Boxing<\/a>, \u2018The Bronze Bomber\u2019 revealed that the Ukrainian has given him \u2018his word\u2019 that victory over \u2018Del Boy\u2019 will tee up a shot at his titles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe so [that Usyk will come next], I\u2019m going to keep Usyk for his word. I believe that he is a man of his word and I understand that [fighting me] is what he wants to do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe don\u2019t need me because he has done great things throughout [his career], but he does need me if he wants that end of an era legacy [fight].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It appears unlikely that Usyk will remain on the sidelines until a potential showdown with the American later this year, with Verhoeven now emerging as the surprise frontrunner to face the unified champion next.<\/p>\n<p>                                            <script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk\u2019s next move remains uncertain. The unified heavyweight world champion is expected to return to action this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-423657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423657","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=423657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}