Deontay Wilder being willing to fight Oleksandr Usyk is not a surprise — but it is worth paying attention to.
Shelly Finkel, Wilder's co-manager, has gone on record confirming that the Bronze Bomber would welcome a showdown with the undisputed heavyweight champion. Not a hint, not a rumour doing the rounds on social media — a direct statement from the man who helps run Wilder's career. That changes the conversation slightly.
What Wilder Actually Has to Gain Here
Let's not dress this up. Wilder has lost two of his last three fights. His war of attrition with Tyson Fury ended in that savage seventh-round KO defeat in their trilogy closer, and he was then stopped by Robert Helenius in 2022. His credibility as a genuine elite-level threat has taken a beating, no pun intended.
But that's precisely why a fight with Usyk would make sense for him — or at least for the people around him. Usyk, the dominant champion who unified all four heavyweight belts and beat Tyson Fury, is the biggest name in the division right now. For Wilder, simply being associated with a fight of that magnitude puts him back in the conversation. Win and it's the greatest comeback the division has seen in years. Lose and, well, you lost to the best in the world — it doesn't necessarily define you.
The question is whether Usyk's camp sees any value in it the other way around. Usyk has nothing obvious to gain from fighting a Wilder who is no longer the knockout threat he was at his devastating peak. The appeal would be commercial more than sporting.
Where Does This Actually Fit in the Heavyweight Picture?
The division is messier and more interesting than it's been in a long time. [Agit Kabayel has made clear he's open to defending his WBC title against the biggest names around](/getohedz/boxing/kabayel-offers-fury-aj-and-itauma-the-chance-to-fight), and we're still waiting to see whether the Fury vs Joshua fight finally gets over the line — the Wembley conversations continue in the background. Everyone is manoeuvring, everyone is positioning.
That context matters here. Finkel's comments about Wilder welcoming Usyk could be as much about keeping Wilder relevant in a crowded landscape as anything else. When multiple big fights are being discussed simultaneously, you want your fighter's name in as many of those discussions as possible. It's basic positioning.
Wilder still carries genuine one-punch danger — nobody who watched him in his prime would dismiss that — but the version of him that opponents need to fear is no longer a certainty to turn up. Usyk would know that, and so would his team.
Our Take
We respect Finkel putting it out there publicly. That's how you move fights forward rather than letting them die in private conversations nobody ever hears about. But we'd need to see a lot more than a co-manager's statement before we start getting excited about this one landing.
Wilder needs this fight more than Usyk does. That imbalance tends to kill negotiations before they begin. If Usyk's team decides there's enough commercial pull — and Wilder's name still carries weight in the States — then maybe this has legs. Until then, file it under "sounds good, let's see."