Oleksandr Usyk’s silence since WBA interim heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley’s 11th round knockout victory over WBO interim champion Joseph Parker on October 25 has been disturbing.
Usyk’s disappearance after Wardley’s breakout victory
The undisputed champion Usyk went on record saying he would face the winner of the fight. His silence since Wardley’s upset win over Parker indicates to some that he is not interested in facing him.
Fabio (20-0-1, 19 KOs) has a different kind of fighting style compared to Parker. He has a high output, and he presses non-stop. The 38-year-old Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) wouldn’t be able to count on scoring a knockout against the steely Wardley like he did in his recent fifth-round knockout win over Daniel Dubois on July 19, 2025.
Does Usyk weigh legacy or payday?
If Usyk is still holding out hope that Tyson Fury will come out of retirement to face him in a top-paying trilogy bout, it makes sense for him to outshine the 30-year-old Wardley. Financially, it makes sense for Usyk to wait for that fight. He will have to vacate his WBO title if he chooses to face Fury because the WBO has already mandated that Usyk face their mandatory next. It’s Wardley now that he holds the WBO interim belt.
Silence From the Champ as Wardley Waits
“It will be presented to him. He’s been deafeningly quiet, which is a bit worrying given he said he’ll fight the winner,” analyst Gareth A. Davies said. BoxNation on Oleksandr Usyk who hasn’t spoken since Fabio Wardley’s upset win over Joseph Parker on October 25, 2025.
It would be a tough fight for Usyk to face Wardley. He’s had problems because he beat Fury and Anthony Joshua twice. None of those fighters have the engine or the chin that Fabio possesses. Considering a fight against Wardley would make any fighter think twice, especially one with the lucrative potential of a trilogy fight against Fury.
Also the age factor for the 38-year-old Usyk. He is not young, and he has already rejected the idea of ​​fighting another younger heavyweight, Moses Itauma. Wardley is not that young, of course, but he is significantly younger than him and the 37-year-old Fury and 36-year-old Joshua.
Wardley’s engine and chin raise real questions
“It will be presented to him in terms of commercial viability here as to whether that fight does work, and it does need a big stadium fight to work,” Gareth said of a fight against Wardley. “And we need Fabio to be out there in the public domain, or Usyk will say, ‘You know what? I’m going to have to go 12 hard rounds with this badass. He’s going to keep coming. I’m going to have to really fight him. I’m going to evacuate.’
It will be a tough fight for Usyk to face Wardley. Just by how Usyk has fought Fury twice in 2024, it wouldn’t be a huge shock if he lost to Wardley. This is a bad style match for him. If he can rely on knocking Wardley out early like he did against Dubois, it would be worth the risk to fight him. But he doesn’t hit hard enough to seriously hurt a fighter like Wardley, meaning he’ll be forced to go 12 hard rounds to defeat him.
“We know that Usyk is being pursued by Tyson Fury for a third fight. It has become more common (after Wardley’s win). He is really after that third fight with,” says Gareth.
Last updated on 11/02/2025
