Oleksandr Usyk’s trainer revealed this week that his charge would consider a return to the cruiserweight division – but only for one particular opponent.
Sergey Lapin, a long-term fixture in the Ukranian’s corner, told Lord Ping that Usyk’s number one goal was a fight for the undisputed heavyweight title against Tyson Fury, but that a move back down to cruiserweight could be on the cards if a fight with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez was in the offing.
”Next year, the fight for the title of undisputed world champion against Tyson Fury is our priority. This is the main goal. But if this does not happen for whatever reason, then I hope that there will still be some very interesting fights ahead.”
“He could, for example, return to the cruiserweight division but only if he has a fight with Saul Alvarez. That’s the only fighter that Usyk would come back down to cruiserweight for.”
Usyk cleaned up at cruiserweight from 2013 to 2018, becoming the division’s second ever undisputed champion after Evander Holyfield and the first of the four-belt era.
His willingness to return to 200lbs if a fight with Canelo was on the cards is understandable, as the contest would be a financially lucrative one for Usyk against a fighter over whom he would boast a huge size advantage.
Fans would surely rather see Usyk attempt to become a two-weight undisputed champion against Fury, however, in a fight that would almost certainly be much more competitive than Usyk vs Canelo.
Talks for a fight with ‘The Gypsy King’ are said to be progressing well and a showdown in 2023 seems likely at this stage, provided Fury gets through his trilogy bout with Dereck Chisora on December 3rd.