By Graham Ilford: Dillian Whyte says he expected Oleksandr Usyk to defend his undisputed heavyweight championship against WBO mandatory Fabio Wardley. He doesn’t believe Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) will “run away” of the undefeated Wardley and opts to vacate his WBO title.
Fury trilogy still tempting
If Usyk is waiting for Tyson Fury, it makes sense for him to hold off on his decision to face the dangerous puncher Wardley. The money Oleksandr will make in a trilogy with ‘The Gypsy King’ will be enormous compared to a defense against Fabio.
Complicating matters is that Fury has yet to confirm whether he will come out of retirement to take on the fight. He initially said he wanted to face Usyk again, but he recently changed his mind.
Fans are questioning whether Usyk will take the fight to Fabio. The 38-year-old four-belt champion has not spoken since Wardley’s upset TKO of WBO interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in the 11th round last month on October 25. That Oleksandr has remained silent is unusual for him and not a positive sign if you are Wardley.
Referee’s crucial time lapse
The performance by Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) was impressive, with him dishing out plenty of punishment and showing a tough chin by taking Parker’s best shots.
It’s a fight that rightly could have ended in the second round after Wardley had Parker in serious trouble after he pummeled him with a right hand. Referee Howard Foster’s decision to call a timeout to allow Parker to put his mouthpiece back on with 40 seconds left in the round may have saved him from being stopped.
Whyte: “Usyk is fighting the best”
“Usyk does not seem to run away from any challenge. He faced all the best fighters. If you look at the last 10 fights that Oleksandr has had, he is the best fighter in cruiserweight, the best in the world, the best in heavyweight, the best in the world. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t fight Fabio,” said Dillian Whyte Sky Sports Boxing on his belief that Oleksandr Usyk will face Fabio Wardley.
It’s a different situation Usyk is in now compared to the past. He’s 38, and he’s got the Fury fight he can potentially take. That’s reason enough for him to wait to agree to defend against Wardley and risk his undefeated record. Losing to him would ruin his chances of a third fight with Tyson.
Whyte predicts no evacuation
“You never know a big fight for Usyk could come out of left field, but as a fan and as the kind of person I think he is, I don’t think he’ll vacate. I think he’ll fight Fabio Wardley,” Dillian said.
Fighting Wardley would be a brave thing for Usyk to do if he could get past the defense quickly. The problem is, the longer Fury is out of the ring, the less likely he is to come out of retirement. He is now so rich that it will be physically difficult for him to return to training at 38 or 39.
Fury’s return remains unclear
It’s a different story now compared to when Fury returned to the ring after a two-and-a-half-year layoff in 2018. He stopped fighting after his win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. When Tyson resumed his career, he was 29, dropping back with a fight against Sefer Seferi rather than going straight to the top.
“If he beats Fabio Wardley at the top of the list of all the people he’s beaten, it certainly puts him as the greatest fighter of the last 20 years,” Whyte said.
Graham Ilford is a veteran boxing columnist who has returned to writing after a decade-long hiatus. Known for his sardonic tone and dry humor, he examines promoters, fighters and the business of the sport with the perspective of someone who has seen every era of hype repeat itself.
Last updated on 11/03/2025
