Usyk Plans Cruiserweight Return and a Benavidez Fight Before Retirement
Oleksandr Usyk wants to move back down to cruiserweight and fight David Benavidez, and he hopes to finish his career in 2027. His adviser, Sergey Lapin, told the BBC that 2027 is seen as the final chapter of Usyk's career.
Cruiserweight is one weight class below heavyweight, with a limit of 200 pounds (90.7kg). Usyk won 16 fights there and became undisputed champion, meaning he held all the major world belts in the division. He then moved up to heavyweight in 2019.
At heavyweight he went on to become a two-time undisputed champion. He beat Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois twice each, and his record now stands at 25 wins and no defeats.
Lapin laid out the plan in steps. Usyk would first fight for the vacant cruiserweight world title, then face Benavidez to unify the belts. A unified champion holds more than one of the major belts at once, so the aim is to collect them all.
The vacancy comes from the IBF belt, which has been empty since Jai Opetaia was stripped of it in March. Opetaia has held the cruiserweight title, and The Ring magazine lists him as its champion in the division.
Benavidez is the man Usyk would have to beat at the end of that route. He has won all 32 of his professional fights and holds the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles. The Ring has him as its No. 1 cruiserweight and No. 5 pound-for-pound fighter, a ranking of the best fighters across all weights.
Benavidez's next fight is already set. He will face Poland's Michal Cieslak for the WBC cruiserweight belt on 5 December. Winning that would add a third cruiserweight title to his collection.
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and former light-heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. have both urged Benavidez to take the Usyk fight, according to The Ring.
What makes this stand out is the sequence itself. Usyk would be returning to a division he left seven years ago, and the route runs through a vacant title before the fight that matters most. Lapin's comments describe an aim, and the steps depend on how the next few fights unfold.
For casual fans, the appeal is simple. Two of the sport's best-known names in the current era would meet in a division where Usyk has already been undisputed, with the whole belt picture on the line. For now, it is a plan from Usyk's side, and the first step is Benavidez's fight against Cieslak on 5 December.
