Oleksandr Usyk appears to have his sights set on fighting one man.
Usyk was expected to defend his then-undisputed heavyweight crown against WBO mandatory, Fabio Wardley, but opted to vacate his WBO title last month, with the Brit elevated to full champion.
The 38-year-old has been out of the ring since stopping Daniel Dubois in the fifth round of their rematch at Wembley Stadium in July.
But the Ukrainian great, who recently revealed he will continue fighting until he’s 41-years-old, has now stated that former WBC heavyweight world champion, Deontay Wilder is his top target.
“I want to fight Deontay Wilder,” Usyk told Boxing King Media.
“I think it’s interesting.
“This is a world champion guy, this is a very famous guy, this is a strong guy.
“He is one of the great heavyweights of the last 10 years.
“I spoke with my team and said this is my first option.”
Wilder, 40, secured a first victory in almost three years when he halted Tyrrell Herndon in Kansas in June, bouncing back from back-to-back defeats to Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker respectively.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ hasn’t been involved in a world title bout since an 11th round knockout defeat to Tyson Fury in their epic third battle in October 2021 and his manager, Shelly Finkel insists they would be open to fighting Usyk if they receive an acceptable offer.
“Usyk is a great champion,” Finkel told Sky Sports.
“We have plans for next year and we’d like Oleksandr Usyk to be part of them.
“If we receive the right offer, we would be open to that fight.”
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Usyk could be forced into a defence of his WBC crown sooner rather than later with Agit Kabayel waiting in the wings as WBC interim champion.
The German first makes a defence of his title against Daniel Knyba on January 10.
