Usyk Says He Has Two or Three Fights Left. Wilder Isn’t What Fans Had in Mind

The 38 year old unified heavyweight champion said this week that he plans to fight two or three more times before retiring, and that one of those fights could come against former WBC champion Deontay Wilder sometime in 2026.

“My team prepares for me for next year’s fight. I want to fight with Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder,” Usyk said in comments to The Ring. “I want this fight. I think Deontay wants to. Okay, let’s go.”

When asked how many bouts he has left, Usyk said, “I think two or three fights more.”

The reaction to Wilder’s name has been mixed, and that’s putting it lightly. With Usyk holding the IBF, WBA, and WBC titles, people were expecting his remaining fights to reflect where the heavyweight division is right now. Fighters like Agit Kabayel, Moses Itauma, or WBO champion Fabio Wardley are active, dangerous, and right in front of him.

Choosing Wilder hasn’t sat well with everyone. Fans aren’t reacting just to the name. Wilder has lost four of his last six fights, including a stoppage loss to Zhilei Zhang, and that record now sits next to Usyk still being viewed as the top heavyweight in the sport. That gap is hard to ignore.

Wardley’s recent elevation to full WBO champion has only sharpened that feeling. It puts another unbeaten heavyweight directly in Usyk’s path, one who represents where the division is heading rather than where it’s been.

Usyk’s last two wins came against Tyson Fury, and both fights came with questions attached. Fury showed up heavier and slower than before, and while the wins count on paper, they didn’t leave the sense that Usyk had just beaten the sharpest version of his opponent.

That’s part of why the Wilder talk lands the way it does. Wilder is still a big name and still dangerous in spots, but he’s also 40 and hasn’t looked like a central figure in the division for a while. The fight would be easy to sell. It would be familiar. It just wouldn’t feel like Usyk testing himself against what’s coming next.

It’s hard to see this as Usyk looking for the toughest fight available.

Usyk has earned the right to choose how he finishes. His résumé doesn’t need fixing, and his place in the heavyweight picture is secure. Still, saying that only two or three fights remain suggests he’s already narrowing the field. A Wilder fight early in 2026 would say a lot about what he values most at the end.

No date or venue has been announced, but there has been quiet talk of the fight landing in the United States, with Las Vegas or Los Angeles viewed as the likely setting if it comes together. What’s clear is that Usyk is already thinking about the finish, and the direction he’s leaning has people talking.