Oleksandr Usyk once again impressed the boxing masses in July when he produced a stunning knockout blow over Daniel Dubois. The win at Wembley Stadium saw Usyk once again become the undisputed champion of the division.
Following his second win over Dubois, Usyk’s next opponent seemed to be clear in the shape of Joseph Parker. As the WBO interim champion of the division, many felt as if Parker had earned his chance at the Ukrainian champion.
Despite being ordered to face Usyk, Parker will face Fabio Wardley on October 25th. This comes as a result of the undisputed champion Usyk suffering an injury, preventing him from competing.
Who Usyk will face next is still a mystery. However, his next steps could be surprising as the modern great has apparently held talks for a career change.
Bare-knuckle boxing is a variant of combat sports that has grown in popularity in recent years. The likes of BKFC and BKB are continuing to grow as organizations, with one of boxing’s biggest stars seemingly interested in joining the latter.
In a recent interview with Boxing Social, BKB CEO David Tetreault made a surprising revelation that his organization had been in talks with the undisputed heavyweight champion over a potential collaboration.
“We’ve had some discussions, and it might blow your mind. We’ve had discussions with Usyk.
– David Tetreault
Tetreault added, “Now, who the opponent would be, we haven’t been there. But, that’s someone who would be transformational to the sport.
“With all that he’s done in boxing, why not do this? Why not do it with the skills? We’ve had those conversations. He’s one that we’ve been eyeing.”
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The BKB CEO said that there were other fighters with whom he was talking in the same regard, but he wanted to avoid ‘spoiling’ exact names.
Tetreault finished by saying, “I’m very close to Egis Klimas, who is his manager, and we’re having those conversations.”
On October 18th, BKB will host their 47th event with ‘Leeds Brawl II’. The event will be headlined by former world boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi. It will be Malignaggi’s second outing in the organization, having been bested by former MMA fighter Artem Lobov in 2019.
Usyk has not publicly expressed interest in competing in bare-knuckling boxing in the past. However, he has seemingly flirted with the idea of an MMA fight with Jake Paul in the past.
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