Barry McGuigan has had his say on the potential fight between two-time undisputed heavyweight ruler Oleksandr Usyk and former WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Wilder has rather been left out in the cold for the last year or so following defeats to Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker, and after being knocked out twice by Tyson Fury in two of their three contests.
He got back to wining ways back in June but has not fought since. Usyk was last out in August when he beat Daniel Dubois for a second time to lift all four major heavyweight titles.
The Ukrainian has since vacated the WBO belt, leaving him in possession of the WBC, WBA and IBF titles, and has recently stated his desire for a showdown against ‘The Bronze Bomber.’
Writing his column in The Mirror, McGuigan gave his view on the potential match-up.
“Deontay Wilder is past his best but still a more dangerous opponent for Oleksandr Usyk, He still carries the old equaliser and can flatten an opponent in the first round or 12th, as he did to peak Fury. Wilder can reach you from the back of the room and if he lands with flat-out power Usyk is going down.
“Wilder is the very embodiment of the modern heavyweight and on his night still carries a formidable threat. For one I would be fascinated to see how Usyk might deal with him. This game is about entertainment too. And at any moment Wilder can still leave opponents in Disneyland. This is not on the Jake Paul versus Joshua scale of confected drama. This can still be real.”
For his part, Wilder has stated that he would be honoured to share the ring with Usyk, while the WBC have also granted Usyk a voluntary defence of his title, which means the two could indeed come together early in 2026 for what would be an intriguing battle.
