Oleksandr Usyk Is Coming Home: The King Returns to Cruiserweight for One Last Coronation
Oleksandr Usyk wants to go home. Not home to Ukraine, but back to cruiserweight, the division where he first climbed to the top and became undisputed.
This isn’t just a weight change. It’s a final-chapter gamble: one fight for a vacant world title, then a shot at David Benavidez and another undisputed crown. Can a 39-year-old king leave heavyweight behind and take control of cruiserweight again? Or is Father Time waiting to spoil the coronation?
Usyk’s adviser has called cruiserweight his home. Usyk himself says he’s ready to return at his current weight. The plan is on the table. The road is anything but clear.
The two-step plan that could rewrite history
Usyk’s adviser Serhii Lapin has described a two-fight mission for 2027, not a confirmed fight contract. “Oleksandr aims to return to cruiserweight in 2027 and become undisputed again. 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. 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.”
The first step could be the vacant IBF cruiserweight title. New Zealand’s David Nyika, 13-1 with 10 KOs, is the division’s No. 1 contender, making him a leading possibility for Usyk’s opening fight. After that? The target is Benavidez, if the titles and contenders align around a unification showdown.
Lapin put the emotional heart of the plan just as plainly: “Usyk has never been a natural heavyweight. Cruiserweight is his home. He loves a challenge, so he moved up, cleaned out the heavyweight division, and now he is coming home to restore order.” Read the full plan from BoxingScene and Fightnews.
Usyk confirmed the idea himself during DAZN’s Canelo-Mbilli broadcast. “Because I cleaned up the heavyweight [division] and back my weight. [Right now I’m weighing] 97, 96 [kg].” Asked whether he’d take on Benavidez at that weight, he answered: “Correct. Because, you know, [there’s a turnover in the heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions]. But if I have an opportunity in cruiserweight, I back! It is big fight because Benavidez is a big champion. Me, a little bit, too.”
No waiting for a perfect excuse. No hiding behind a weight advantage. Usyk also explained why he vacated his heavyweight titles: “Yeah, of course. Listen, when I have opportunity, I take this opportunity. This is life.” The door is open. Now the question is who stands in it.
Oleksandr Usyk: The man who already did the impossible
Usyk is 39, Ukrainian, and still undefeated at 25-0 with 16 knockouts. A 2012 Olympic gold medalist, he turned pro in 2013 and became the first fighter in the four-belt era to reach undisputed status in two divisions.
His first coronation came at cruiserweight. In 2018, Usyk beat Murat Gassiev in the World Boxing Super Series final and captured all four belts. He ruled as undisputed champion from 2018 to 2019, then moved up to heavyweight and started chasing an even bigger mountain.
He beat Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois twice each on the way to two undisputed heavyweight reigns, in 2024 and 2025. After a hard-fought 11th-round TKO of Rico Verhoeven in May 2026, he remained unbeaten. Then, in June, he vacated his heavyweight titles and took control of his next move.
The return has a romantic pull, but it isn’t just nostalgia. Usyk has said his heavyweight title fights were made between 220 and 230 pounds, with his weight reaching 233¼ pounds for Verhoeven. Now he says he’s around 96 to 97 kilograms, already near cruiserweight territory. During the DAZN appearance, he lifted his shirt and showed he’s still in shape. The message landed: the heavyweight chapter is closed, and the old division is calling.
Canelo Alvarez celebrates his Riyadh win, the event where Usyk announced his cruiserweight plan. Credit: Getty Images.
Benavidez’s hit list meets the king
Benavidez is 29, undefeated at 32-0 with 26 knockouts, and holds the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles. Before any Usyk showdown can take shape, he faces WBC champion Michal Cieslak on December 5 in Glendale, Arizona. It’s Benavidez’s final contracted fight with PBC before free agency, and the result could move the whole division’s chessboard.
His stated hit list after Cieslak includes Jai Opetaia, Artur Beterbiev and Usyk. An Opetaia fight has been discussed for Cinco de Mayo weekend 2027. But Usyk’s push could change the order. The IBF title is vacant after Opetaia was stripped in March following his signing with Zuffa Boxing, and Nyika is the organization’s No. 1 contender. That makes an early-2027 Usyk-Nyika title fight a plausible first step, not a done deal.
Benavidez’s longtime promoter Sampson Lewkowicz, whose contract with the fighter ends after the Cieslak bout, sees a Usyk fight as a major event. “That would be wonderful. Speaking as a fan of the sport, this would be such a great event for the sport and both fighters, and it would be a far better and bigger fight than one against Canelo.”
Benavidez’s trainer and father, Jose Benavidez Sr., has a different read on the danger. He says Usyk is one of his favorites, but believes age and the Ukrainian’s long amateur career could give David a path to victory. He also suggested Usyk’s urgency might bring the matchup forward, potentially putting the Opetaia plan on pause.
So here’s the division’s high-stakes puzzle: Usyk could chase the vacant IBF belt first, while Benavidez handles Cieslak and weighs Opetaia, Beterbiev and the Ukrainian. By the time the pieces settle, who will hold the belts Usyk needs? For background on the proposed route and Benavidez’s options, see BoxingScene’s breakdown.
But can a 40-year-old king beat the clock?
That’s the hidden danger in the fairytale. Usyk would be 40 by fight time, and he hasn’t competed at cruiserweight since facing Tony Bellew in November 2018, nearly eight years ago. His May fight with Verhoeven, at 233¼ pounds, looked sluggish before Usyk found the finish in the 11th. The stoppage was gritty, but the performance wasn’t effortless.
Fans are split. Some believe that if anyone can drop down and rule a division for a second time, it’s Usyk. Others point to his age, inactivity, and the long gap since his last cruiserweight fight. They see Benavidez’s youth, speed, durability and momentum as serious problems. The debate is already circling one blunt question: is this close to 50/50?
O’Shaquie Foster in ring action; Foster’s 130-pound title picture is one of the divisions that must wait on the cruiserweight shuffle. Credit: Getty Images.
That’s the exact dilemma Lapin’s plan hinges on. Can Usyk’s footwork, timing and ring IQ outmaneuver the years? Can he make the weight and keep the sharpness that made him a two-division king? The DAZN interview and fan reaction show why this is a fascinating risk, not a guaranteed coronation. Don’t settle the argument before the bell. Which side are you on?
While he’s home, Usyk is watching the next chapter
Usyk’s eyes aren’t fixed only on his own comeback. Asked about his good friend and fellow Ukrainian Vasiliy Lomachenko’s return, he said: “I think I very happy Vasiliy back. I think Vasiliy will take undisputed. I want. God bless.”
He’s also looking ahead to Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua, set for December 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Usyk called it a toss-up and said fans have waited years to see the UK stars collide. His final verdict was pure fight-night drama: “I want watch this fight because it’s like a choice, only one king of UK.”
Usyk knows what it means to fight for the crown. Now he may be ready to chase one more.
Watch every round of the road back
The cruiserweight chessboard is moving, and every domino lands somewhere on FIGHT.TV. We stream boxing, MMA and bare knuckle from around the world, live and on demand, for just $19.95 a year, about $2 a month. Need a boxing schedule tonight? Got it. Want a live boxing stream for the big one? Got it. Craving bare knuckle live chaos or your next live fight stream? Also got it.
The first domino is Benavidez-Cieslak on December 5. After that, the belts, the challengers and the king’s route home all start moving. Will Usyk reclaim cruiserweight and finish undisputed? The next chapter is coming.
