Oleksandr Usyk’s farewell tour just got a new name attached to it, and it isn’t from boxing.
Sergey Lapin, the Ukrainian heavyweight’s sporting director and longtime advisor, told The Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger that Jon Jones is on the shortlist alongside Deontay Wilder for Usyk’s retirement fight. Coppinger broke the news on X on Sunday and discussed it on DAZN’s Inside The Ring podcast. Eddie Hearn, who promotes Usyk on the European side of his business, separately confirmed to DAZN’s Chris Mannix at Barclays Center on Saturday night that Wilder is the preferred option. The “last dance,” per all parties, is intended to take place in the United States in late 2026 or early 2027.
Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) sent shockwaves through boxing on Friday, June 26, by vacating his WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles while retaining The Ring (lineal) title. He confirmed one fight remains before retirement. “I want to vacate all of the belts I currently hold to make them available so the guys who want them and are next in line can fight for them,” he said in a social media video message. “I’m leaving the belts but not leaving the sport, because I still have my last dance.”
The vacating is more strategic than ceremonial. Per Lapin’s statement to ESPN, the decision “was made with the future of the heavyweight division in mind. Oleksandr vacated the sanctioning body titles to give Anthony Joshua the opportunity to compete for and reunify them.” Joshua is Usyk’s teammate, which puts a different lens on the move. The WBC has already promoted Agit Kabayel to champion. Murat Gassiev holds the WBA. The IBF belt is vacant. The Ring lineal title stays with Usyk.
The Wilder option is the conventional one. Wilder (45-4-1, 43 KOs), 40 years old, returned to the win column in April with a split-decision victory over Derek Chisora in what most outlets described as a lackluster performance. He remains the heaviest single-punch threat at the weight class and the recognisable American name Usyk’s camp needs to deliver a US-based finale. Negotiations between Usyk and Wilder fell apart last winter, but the renewed conversation puts the matchup back on the table. Lapin’s stated priority is Usyk’s first major fight in the United States since October 2019, when he beat Chazz Witherspoon at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. He has fought three times total on US soil across an almost two-decade pro career. That, more than the opponent’s name, is the box the team wants to check.
The Jones angle is the part that raises eyebrows.
Jones (28-1, 1 NC) retired from MMA in 2025 after vacating the UFC heavyweight title, his last appearance being the TKO of Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024. He has never boxed professionally. A 39-year-old boxing debut against the consensus best heavyweight of his generation would be, by competitive measure, an unusual matchmaking choice. It is also the kind of matchmaking choice that crossover-era boxing has stopped flinching at. Usyk’s most recent opponent was a kickboxer. The previous twelve months of heavyweight programming has leaned heavily on event fights rather than sanctioning-body math.
Wilder and Jones are not the only names in the conversation. The Ring’s own analysis floats David Benavidez as the contender most likely to actually give Usyk trouble. Benavidez moved up from light heavyweight to cruiserweight last month to beat Gilberto Ramirez, and another move up in weight to face Usyk would be on-brand for a fighter who has been chasing a Dmitry Bivol fight that does not appear to be on the horizon. Some respected observers, including Roy Jones Jr. and Robert Garcia, believe Benavidez beats Usyk. A Verhoeven rematch is also being discussed, though Usyk’s camp has not publicly endorsed it.
The Verhoeven fight itself is where Usyk’s mortality showed. The Ukrainian narrowly stopped the Dutch kickboxing legend by 11th-round TKO at the Pyramids of Giza on May 23, but he looked uneven through 10 rounds. Multiple outlets described the stoppage as controversial, with many observers feeling Verhoeven would have won the bout if the referee had not intervened when he did. Usyk, who turns 40 in January, has acknowledged in interviews since that the result reinforced the timeline for his retirement.
Lapin’s framing of the shortlist captured the trade-off. “He’s beat Fury twice, he’s beat Joshua. He’s had all the big fights. He’s never had a major fight here in the United States,” Coppinger quoted him as saying. “That’s what he wants. That’s what he’s going to get.”
The commercial logic on Jones, if there is one, runs through pay-per-view curiosity as much as competitive merit. A fight between the lineal heavyweight champion and a former UFC pound-for-pound name making his boxing debut is the kind of pitch designed to travel beyond hardcore boxing audiences. American regulators, broadcasters, and Usyk’s own competitive standards would all have their say if the conversation progressed. For now, nothing about the Jones option has been corroborated by Jones himself, his management, or any sanctioning body. Lapin’s mention is the entirety of the public sourcing so far, and advisors floating names is a long way from contracts being drafted. The Ring framed it as one option among several rather than a frontrunner.
For now, the only confirmed facts are the ones Usyk and Lapin have stated publicly: titles vacated, Joshua handed the runway to unify them, one fight left, and an American venue desired. Wilder is the preferred opponent. Jones is on the shortlist. Benavidez is in the conversation. A Verhoeven rematch sits at the edge of the discussion.
The next visible move is likely Hearn announcing a venue. The one after that is whichever opponent agrees to terms first.
