Oleksandr Usyk close to agreeing Deontay Wilder bout in US after split from Riyadh Season

Unified heavyweight champion's next fight will be under new banner

Oleksandr Usyk celebrates winning the IBF, IBO, WBC and WBO heavyweight bout against Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in London. Getty Images

Oleksandr Usyk has split from Riyadh Season and is in talks with a promoter in the US over a new multi-fight deal.

Usyk, the unified heavyweight champion, has defended his titles three times on Riyadh Season shows, including twice in the Saudi capital against Tyson Fury.

But his next fight, likely to be against the American Deontay Wilder in April or May 2026, will be under a new promotional banner.

Usyk is negotiating with an unnamed American promoter, and despite previous talk of retirement, he plans to fight for another two years, his manager Egis Klimas told The National at the World Sports Summit in Dubai.

Asked if Riyadh Season would be promoting Usyk’s next fight, Klimas said: “No, actually, that's a different group from the United States.”

Top Rank, PBC and Golden Boy lead the way in the US boxing market, but Klimas declined to reveal the identity of their new partners.

“It's not official yet, so I cannot tell you,” added Klimas, who has a long-standing relationship with Top Rank having partnered with them to promote numerous eastern European fighters, including Usyk’s fellow Ukrainian and close friend Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Klimas also refused to rule out working with Riyadh season again in the future, adding: “I cannot say that [he will not work with them, and that] he's not going to be fighting in the Riyadh season. He might be fighting in the Riyadh season, but as far as right now, we don't have any offers or anything like that from them.”

He added: “[Usyk] has at least two more years, as he says. So, I cannot go inside of his body, but he feels strong. It's not time for him to hang up his gloves, and he's ready to go.”

Usyk last fought in July when he knocked out Daniel Dubois in the fifth round of a Riyadh Season show at Wembley Stadium in London.

Saudi boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh publicly called for him to fight rising star Moses Itauma, but the British youngster is still some way off being ready to challenge Usyk.

Alalshikh was said to unenthusiastic about Usyk’s other potential heavyweight challengers, and it appears the champion has decided to move on.

Wilder held the WBC title for five years before losing it to Fury in their 2020 rematch. He has since struggled for form and has lost four of his last six, including back to back defeats against Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker. He returned to the ring in June 2025 with a seventh round stoppage of Tyrrell Herndon.

“It’s very likely [we will see Usyk face Wilder],” added Klimas. “Because right now we're working on it, and we're working on some multi-fight agreement for Oleksandr.

“As soon as we're going to confirm that, we're going to jump in. And some talks already are going on with the team of Wilder. We're looking at Las Vegas or Los Angeles, and dates are the end of April, beginning of May.

“Wilder is one of the best names [that] Oleksandr didn't face yet. He's still in good shape, and he's still a fighter, so he's interesting. And as well, it's the United States.”