Usyk in talks for farewell fight with Wilder in America
Usyk’s talks with Zuffa Boxing could send his last fight to the U.S. against Wilder, with a late-2026 or early-2027 target and no title belts at stake.
Oleksandr Usyk has entered talks with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing for a farewell fight against Deontay Wilder in the United States, a matchup that would place one of boxing’s most accomplished champions into a pure spectacle bout at the sport’s biggest commercial stage.
Usyk, 39, vacated the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles in June 2026 and said he is not finished, only that he wants one final fight before retirement. The unbeaten Ukrainian has already been undisputed champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, and his next move is being weighed less as a title defense than as a final statement for a fighter whose career has crossed divisions and eras.
The preferred timing is late 2026 or early 2027, with the United States identified as the likely site. Usyk’s camp has said there is dialogue with Zuffa Boxing, and White has not shut the door, saying the matchup is possible. That makes the bout a test case for Zuffa’s approach to boxing: use celebrity, cross-promotion and American market power to turn a legacy fight into an event that can travel beyond the sport’s traditional title structure.
Wilder is the leading opponent in those discussions. The 40-year-old former WBC heavyweight champion from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, owns a record of 45 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw, with 43 knockouts. He held the WBC title from 2015 to 2020 and remains one of the division’s most recognizable punchers, which gives the matchup a built-in appeal even without a belt on the line.
Usyk has also considered former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones as an alternative, another sign that his final outing could be built around name value as much as sanctioning bodies. Reports have also tied Zuffa Boxing to Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi boxing power broker who has worked with Usyk in recent fights, adding another layer of influence to a deal that would stretch across promoters, broadcasters and markets.
For boxing, the appeal is obvious. A Usyk-Wilder fight would not decide the heavyweight division’s future, but it would help define how the sport now packages its stars: not only through championships, but through premium events that can still fill arenas and command attention in the United States.
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