Oleksandr Usyk has refused to rule out a lucrative future fight with Canelo Alvarez despite the prospect of a harsh 26lb weight cut.
Former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk is preparing to defend his heavyweight world titles for the first time in a rematch against Anthony Joshua on August 20. The Ukrainian won the belts last September in just his third heavyweight fight since moving up from 200lb.
Talks of a fight between Usyk and super-middleweight king Alvarez were floated around when the Mexican planned to move up to cruiserweight and fight world titleholder Ilunga Makabu. Usyk, who weighed in at 221lb for his last fight, has admitted that he would need to lose 26lb to fight Alvarez at cruiserweight.
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"To fight Canelo Alvarez, I would have to lose 12kg. It will be a freak fight," Usyk told Parimatch. "I think firstly I need to do what I have in mind in the heavyweight division, and then maybe arrange such a fight. The fight with Canelo Alvarez potentially involves big money, so I’m not ruling out the possibility that it will happen."
Alvarez's promoter Eddie Hearn has previously touched on the fight, insisting that his fighter believes he can hand Usyk his first professional loss. "When we talk about mindset and winning, he genuinely believes he can beat Oleksandr Usyk for the world heavyweight title," Hearn told JOE. "He said to me ‘if you can make that fight at one pound above cruiserweight [200lbs] I will beat him'.
Alvarez recently suffered his first defeat in almost nine years when he was outpointed by light-heavyweight world titleholder Dmitry Bivol in May. The Mexican was looking to capture another belt at 175lb having previously won a title at the weight class in 2019. Alvarez will now move back down to super-middleweight for his next fight as he attempts to defend his undisputed belts in a trilogy clash against bitter rival Gennady Golovkin.
Usyk hasn't fought at cruiserweight in almost four years, knocking out Tony Bellew to defend his undisputed belts in his last fight at the weight class. Standing at 6'3", Usyk would hold a huge size advantage over the 5'7" Alvarez, who has never weighed above 175lb in his illustrious boxing career.
