Usyk plans cruiserweight return to face Benavidez, adviser says

On 31 October 2026 Oleksandr Usyk's adviser Sergey Lapin said the 39-year-old plans to return to cruiserweight to fight David Benavidez before retiring from boxing.

Usyk last fought in May, when he earned a gritty win over Rico Verhoeven before vacating his titles, and had said he wanted a "last dance" in boxing that was expected to be at heavyweight; Lapin says the Ukrainian is instead planning to move down a division.

Lapin set out a two-step plan for Usyk's return, saying: "Oleksandr aims to return to cruiserweight in 2027 and become undisputed again." He added: "First, we are looking at a fight for a vacant world title. Then, the goal is to face David Benavidez to unify all the belts and become undisputed cruiserweight champion."

Usyk dominated at cruiserweight for the majority of his career, winning 16 fights and becoming the undisputed champion before moving to heavyweight in 2019.

At heavyweight he became a two-time undisputed champion, beating Britons Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois twice each to stretch his undefeated record to 25 fights.

Benavidez, 29, has won all 32 of his professional fights and holds the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles; the IBF belt is vacant after Jai Opetaia was stripped of it in March.

"We see 2027 as the final chapter of his career. He wants to finish as undisputed champion in the division where he first won all the belts," Lapin said, and Benavidez will fight Poland's Michal Cieslak for the WBC belt on 5 December.