Oleksandr Usyk vs. Deontay Wilder - Who wins?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Ambitious Ed Pereira aiming to shatter 135,132 boxing attendance record

Ambitious Ed Pereira is hoping to set world records tumbling with the highest-attended live boxing match in history taking place in 2026.

The CEO of I Visit Boxing is set to formally unveil plans for his future in San Francisco today, and admits: “It’s exciting, it's a bit nerve-wracking, as you can imagine, but we’ve got the guys.”

There is speculation about which fighters can attract numbers to usurp the 135,132 present to watch Tony Zale fight Billy Pryor in 1941 in Juneau Park, Milwaukee, but Pereira thinks he can do it.

Pereira is not a promoter in the strictest sense. He is an event organizer.

He worked with Riyadh Season and Sela on the ill-fated Times Square show last May, and tomorrow, with the San Francisco mayor and in front of City Call, he will announce some of his ambitious plans.

Pereira already has a major player in support with YouTube, who will carry the events he puts on. The idea is to do 12 per year, some of them on YouTube pay-per-view.

“So, for us, the vision going forward is to announce that we’re going to create a super big event,” he added. “We’re going to look to aim to break the world record. No one has come anywhere near beating that number. And on July 11th, we’re going to go for the Guinness Book of Records to try and break that. So, we’re going to put a card on in the city centre of San Francisco. We’re going to close quite a huge portion of San Francisco down to create this large-scale event and try and break that 135,132 record. We won't be announcing the fighters tomorrow. They’ll be announced a little bit later on. This is just to announce that the event's happening and who the partners are going to be. That will come a little bit later, but just to say that I'm working with some promoters currently, and it looks really, really good. So, I can't wait to tell everybody who is going to be on that card.”

There has been online speculation that it could be the heavyweight bout between Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder. Pereira would not confirm.

“I have seen that,” he said. “Look, whoever lands it has got a really good fight on their hands.”

There were lessons learned from the Times Square show but Pereira has not been put off trying to think outside the box.

“Well, first of all, I love stadiums. I love stadium events,” he said. “I've worked stadium events all my life, mainly rugby and football [soccer], and stadiums can be special, right? “And it's not to say that we won't be announcing any stadium shows ourselves. We will be. I think that's fair to say that over the course of the next few months we'll be doing a few stadium shows. But I think there's something special when you create an I was there moment. And sometimes a lot of that has to do with the card. In fact, a huge amount of that has to do with the card. But we want the fan to be part of the show. We want the fans to be part of the show. And I think one of the key things that we are talking about, particularly in San Francisco, is that the fans themselves, if we break the world record, the fans themselves will be record holders. It's part of their show. You can't break records in stadiums or records of this size. You've got to go out and think kind of out of the box.

“Times Square was really hard. It was logistically a really difficult event to put on. But it's what keeps me alive. I enjoy the difficult challenges.”

That show was in league with Ring and Riyadh Season, and Pereira is open to working with them again.

“I'm doing my own thing, but not to say that I won't work with them again,” he said.

“Look, I really enjoyed my time working with both Sela, the Ring guys and Riyadh season as a whole. Look, what His Excellency has done for boxing cannot be matched. He came into boxing and put a great spotlight on the great sport of boxing. Not to say that we won't work with them again, but for the moment, it's just me.

“We're really excited about the scale of what we're trying to achieve. So as I said, I think some of them will be stadium shows. Some of them will be outdoor shows. All of them, though, will be iconic in one way, shape or form. And you might actually find that there'll be smaller venues or smaller amounts of people. Obviously, I'm not going to do 135,000 people every time. I mean, that would be just mad. But you'll find smaller shows, but there'll always be a link to something iconic, an iconic venue or a link to the past or a stadium that is known for some of the greatest fights in boxing history. There will always be an iconic link.”

With many networks pulling back from boxing, what makes Pereira believes now is the time to do record numbers?

“Many, many, many years ago, boxing was the biggest sport in the world,” he added. “Bigger than football [soccer]. Football’s never been the number one sport. Boxing was always the number one sport. Over the period of time, and actually I was doing a little bit of research and looking back in time, the heavyweight champion of the world was known as the king of the world. You could walk in the street. I always say this line, you could go up to a granny in Bolton many, many years ago and ask her who the heavyweight champion of the world was. And she would tell you exactly the same. If there was a granny walking in New York City, she would tell you. Unfortunately, now they don’t. That doesn't mean that that can’t happen again. And I think if you look at, and I clearly understand the purist’s view with Jake Paul, but if you actually look at the amount of eyeballs that Jake Paul’s getting into the sport, that shows you his potential. Whether you agree with him or you don’t agree with him, the eyeballs are undeniable. And the fact that he’s bringing the sport to a wider audience is undeniable.

“I’m a firm believer that the casual fan, the guy in the pub, drinking a pint, loves the sport of boxing. They just haven’t been shown it yet or they haven't had easy access to it. Football's everywhere. You’ve got easy access to football. Boxing is not the same. And I think that’s the vision. That's the hole that we seek to fill.”

[ScottDetonator]

I don't mind this fight for legacy, will look better on Usyk's record a decade from now, as long as he wins

Father Time is turning for the old guard, it won't be long until they're all retired. I'm pretty sure Wilder could still fight again after Usyk if he wanted to - AJ, Wardley, Itauma, Dubois in the UK could still pay decent purses, perhaps - Jared Anderson, Torres Jnr in the States.

Maybe Zuffa boxing will offer him something, like Charles Martin

[DrDuke]

A mismatch against a no longer relevant guy, but Usyk still wins anyone in a one sided fashion, including any true contender like Kabayel, while against Wilder it'll be a bigger event, with a more colorful atmosphere around it, so I don't mind this cherry picking at all.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Is Wilder Inching Into Position To Revisit Fight Vs. Usyk?

Deontay Wilder could become Oleksandr Usyk’s most viable option.

After beating Derek Chisora on April 4 at O2 Arena in London, Wilder, who was only ranked No. 12 by the WBC, is now ranked No. 10 by the IBF as well. Beyond his two top-15 rankings, Wilder’s name recognition and status as a former WBC champ – and Usyk’s dwindling list of potential future foes – could make them appealing opponents for each other again later this year.

Before he faced Chisora, Wilder, who made 10 successful defenses of his WBC crown before losing his belt to Tyson Fury in February 2020, was on the verge of finalizing a deal to challenge Usyk, who owns The Ring, IBF, WBA and WBC heavyweight titles.

Wilder (45-4-1, 43 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, opted for a fight with Chisora once talks stalled. Ukraine’s Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) also moved on. He’s now scheduled to face Rico Verhoeven, a professional kickboxer, in the main event of The Ring’s show at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt on May 23.

For the 39-year-old heavyweight king, he mentioned in a previous interview on “Inside The Ring” that he had just three fights left before he’d retire. One, of course, is coming against Verhoeven.

The next would be against the winner of WBO heavyweight champion, Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois. That bout is set to take place May 9 at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.

For Usyk’s last bout, he would like it to take place against Tyson Fury. Usyk beat Fury by decision in back-to-back fights in 2024.

Those bouts, however, might be off the table.

The Ring’s No. 1-ranked heavyweight and No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter has knocked out Dubois twice.

If Dubois upsets Wardley, a third meeting between Dubois and Usyk makes little financial sense. Usyk also vacated his WBO strap on November 17 instead of facing Wardley, who had the interim championship, and claimed that a fight against Wardley wasn’t financially rewarding.

As for Fury, he ended a year-and-a-half retirement Saturday night by beating Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. After scoring that lopsided unanimous decision, Fury said that a fight with Anthony Joshua is the only one that interests him.

With Fury apparently headed in a different direction, Wilder is suddenly an attractive alternative for Usyk again.

To add more credibility to his world title hopes, the WBO recently told The Ring that it is considering placing Wilder in its top 15. The WBO is set to release its rankings toward the end of this month.

Wilder called out Joshua immediately after knocking Chisora down twice and picking himself up off the canvas as well. But with Joshua ostensibly on the verge of facing Fury in an all-British mega clash, it would make sense for the hard-hitting star to revisit a fight versus Usyk as well.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Usyk vs Wilder in Istanbul?!

Eddie Hearn and Turki Alalshikh discussing the possibility of a huge event in Turkey at the Hagia Sophia

Hearn states that Usyk would have to drop a belt which could be the WBC….

A heavyweight showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder on the banks of the Bosphorus would be absolutely insane. Source

[joshj909]

Turki's a prick. Remember when people were saying he's saving boxing? Where are they now?

[Alba]

Turki's a prick. Remember when people were saying he's saving boxing? Where are they now?

Hes a sports washing CŰŊŤ

[Ruthless-RKO]

According to Hearn, this will be Usyk’s last fight.

[KiwiRider]

How does Wilder get this chance when none of the belts have been defended against a #1 contender for ages?

None of the orgs are going by their own rules.

[Eolaithe]

By the time Usyk faces Wilder, the 'Bronze Bomber' will be 41 and more than five years removed from knocking down a world-rated heavyweight.

Usyk may have underestimated Rico Verhoeven, just as Tyson Fury did with Francis Ngannou, but Wilder’s decline makes this a far less dangerous test.

That is why I don’t expect a competitive fight: Usyk should stop him inside eight one-sided rounds.

[Taansend]

Wilder by KO in the 1st

[KiwiRider]

Wilder by KO in the 1st

Put a fiver on it, show your confidence

[Taansend]

Wilder by KO in the 1st

Put a fiver on it, show your confidence

Will do, mate. I'm moving to Thailand so a 5 Baht bet it is.

[KiwiRider]

Wilder by KO in the 1st

Put a fiver on it, show your confidence

Will do, mate. I'm moving to Thailand so a 5 Baht bet it is.

wow that confident eh?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Dana White doubles down on Joshua-Fury claims and says Oleksandr Usyk to Zuffa is 'possible'

Dana White has not ruled out staging a heavyweight showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder on his Zuffa Boxing platform. Nor has he stood down on his claims that he knows exactly where a fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will take place should the heavyweight rivals get as far as sharing a ring.

Rumors have been swirling since Friday, after Usyk relinquished his IBF, WBC and WBA heavyweight titles to focus on a ‘last dance’, that the Ukrainian might be eyeing up a switch to Zuffa for his final fight. Hearn and others had claimed it will come against veteran Wilder.

“Anything can happen,” White said twice with a smile when asked if Usyk-Wilder is heading to Zuffa.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Usyk in Zuffa talks for farewell bout with Wilder

Heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk is in talks with Dana White's Zuffa Boxing for a farewell fight against Deontay Wilder in America.

The Ukrainian vacated his WBA 'Super', WBC and IBF heavyweight titles last week, but insisted he has not retired and wants "one last dance".

Usyk, 39, is unbeaten in 25 professional fights and widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters of his generation, while Wilder, 40, is a former world champion but well past his peak.

"Usyk has already stated that he sees Deontay Wilder as the opponent for his last dance," Usyk's team director, Sergey Lapin, told BBC Sport.

"It is a match-up with significant potential from a sporting, media and international perspective."

American Wilder's manager, Shelly Finkel, told BBC Sport: "If Deontay is offered a fight with Usyk, he would take it."

The bout could be promoted by Zuffa Boxing, with Usyk potentially linking up with the new promotional venture for the final stage of his career.

Zuffa Boxing, fronted by UFC president White and backed by Saudi Arabian funding, is seeking to challenge boxing's established promotional model by recognising its own champions rather than relying on the sport's traditional sanctioning-body belts.

"We are in direct discussions with Zuffa Boxing at the highest level. At this stage, no agreements have been signed," Lapin added.

"Zuffa Boxing is being considered as one of the potential partners for a major international event.

"The final structure will be determined based on what is in the best interests of the fight, the fighters, and the overall scale of the project."

America most 'logical' location for Usyk-Wilder

Usyk controversially stopped kickboxing great Rico Verhoeven in May and had been ordered to defend his WBC belt against 'interim' champion Agit Kabayel next.

Instead, he chose to give up his titles. Kabayel has since been upgraded to full world champion.

There have been calls for Usyk to give Verhoeven a rematch after the Dutchman pushed him to the limit despite having boxed only once before. Verhoeven, a dominant force in kickboxing, was eventually stopped late in the 11th round.

But Usyk, a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion who was also undisputed at cruiserweight, appears to favour Wilder as the opponent for his farewell fight.

Wilder beat Briton Derek Chisora by split decision in April to record the 45th win of his 50-fight professional career.

The Alabama fighter, who has 43 stoppage victories, was once regarded as the hardest-hitting heavyweight in boxing. But he has been in decline in recent years and has not looked the same fighter since his trilogy with Tyson Fury.

Lapin says America is "the most logical option" for Usyk-Wilder, but the date and location remain open.

"There is considerable interest surrounding this possibility at the moment, but no concrete agreements have been reached," Lapin said.

"A fight of this level requires more than just the right names. It also requires the right partner, the right venue, the right broadcast platform, and an event of the appropriate scale."

[Ruthless-RKO]

Deontay Wilder 'would welcome' fight with Oleksandr Usyk

Deontay Wilder will accept a fight with Oleksandr Usyk if the terms are fair, the American's co-manager Shelly Finkel has confirmed.

Usyk, who recently announced he was relinquishing his WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles to focus on 'one last dance', has been in discussions with Zuffa Boxing about the possibility of staging his farewell content.

The 40-year-old Wilder, a former WBC champion, is ranked seventh by the sanctioning body after his April victory over Derek Chisora. However, the WBC had previously ruled that Usyk, following his May victory over kickboxer Rico Verhoeven, must next face then-interim titlist Agit Kabayel if he was to keep his belt. Ultimately, the decision was made by the Ukrainian to give up all titles to give him autonomy on what followed.

Usyk, 25-0 (16 KOs), and Wilder, 45-4-1 (43 KOs), had previously entered negotiations about a potential contest in December with Usyk recognizing the "Bronze Bomber" as the lone elite heavyweight of his era he was yet to face.

"If the terms were right, Deontay would welcome the chance to fight Usyk," Finkel told Sky Sports.

"Usyk is a great champion and it would be an honour to fight him."

Though Wilder remains the 39-year-old Ukrainian's opponent of choice, Zuffa Boxing is understood to be one of several promotional outfits under consideration to host his 26th and presumably last professional contest.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Usyk in 'advanced negotiations' for Wilder farewell fight

Oleksandr Usyk is in advanced negotiations for a farewell fight with Deontay Wilder, The Ring has learned.

Usyk, Ring Magazine heavyweight champion, stunned the boxing world late last month when he announced he would vacate his IBF, WBA and WBC titles while also confirming he will have just one more fight before retirement.

And during Monday’s episode of Inside The Ring, Mike Coppinger confirmed the development regarding his final opponent.

Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) had initially hinted he might fight the winner of Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley to become undisputed heavyweight champion once more while also welcoming a trilogy fight with Tyson Fury.

Then there were suggestions that Usyk would face Rico Verhoeven in a rematch due to the controversial nature of his stoppage in Egypt, when referee Mark Lyson called a halt to the fight with just one second remaining in the 11th round May 23.

Now it is clear that none of those fights will be happening with Usyk instead favoring a showpiece event in America for his final fight.

The two names in the frame for such an event were Wilder and MMA legend Jon Jones, but it is understood the Bronze Bomber is the clear frontrunner. The two teams are in advanced negotiations regarding a showdown later this year.

Wilder (45-4-1, 43 KOs) is coming off his scrappy split-decision victory over Derek Chisora in London on April 4, which was his first fight since June last year.

But the 40-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the former WBC heavyweight champion, is still a big enough draw to provide Usyk with the sort of major fight in the US that has so far eluded him throughout his glittering career.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Dissapointing end to his career from Usyk.

I get it, but it still leaves a slightly sour taste in the mouth.

[JamesPhilips]

Dissapointing end to his career from Usyk.

I get it, but it still leaves a slightly sour taste in the mouth.

Imagine if Usyk gets Kod. What a disaster for his legacy

[KiwiRider]

Dissapointing end to his career from Usyk.

I get it, but it still leaves a slightly sour taste in the mouth.

Yeah, I'd actually prefer he retired now, rather than this tosh.
If the movement of Joseph Parker in the ring was too much for Wilder to launch anything two years ago, then what is the point?

[margaret thatcher]

doesnt seem nearly as bad to me as people are making out?

wilder was one of the biggest names in the division for years, coming off an exiciting win, and his name will look good on a resume years from now. you have agit as a deserving challenger, moses as next generation (but would his team match him vs usyk?) but theres really no exciting potential opponents after that. he's already faced aj, fury, dubios multiple times, and anyone really want guys okolie or wardley or sanchez?

[paultom]

Dissapointing end to his career from Usyk.

I get it, but it still leaves a slightly sour taste in the mouth.

He's gone from being my favourite fighter to I couldn't care less about him,

[jamesmcdonnell]

Dissapointing end to his career from Usyk.

I get it, but it still leaves a slightly sour taste in the mouth.

He's gone from being my favourite fighter to I couldn't care less about him,

Yeah, I mean, he might as well have gone out with a bang than a whimper. There's really nothing to gain from a fight with Wilder other than more money, and he has plenty already.

If wilder somehow sparked him it would be a rather ignominius end to a sparklingt and much lauded career.