• Usyk moved up to the heavyweight division in 2019, having previously been the undisputed cruiserweight champion.
• Meanwhile, former light-welterweight world champion Amir Khan is in talks to fight on a Misfits card, BBC Sport understands.
Image: HANDOUT
Undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk could return to the cruiserweight division after his rematch with Tyson Fury in December.
The Ukrainian became boxing’s first four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion with a split-decision victory over Fury in Saudi Arabia in May.
The 37-year-old will face Fury again on December 21, but could then decide to return to cruiserweight.
“I think maybe after the rematch, I am going to go down in weight to cruiserweight. I want more [fights at] cruiserweight,” Usyk told the ‘3 Knockdown Rule’, podcast.
“Maybe I can be undisputed for a second time in the cruiserweight division, it’s my plan. When I start to prepare for my training camp [as a heavyweight], I have to eat all the time. For me it’s hard, I don’t like it.”
Usyk moved up to the heavyweight division in 2019, having previously been the undisputed cruiserweight champion. He weighed in at 16st (224lb), the heaviest of his career, for his fight with Fury.
It remains to be seen whether December’s rematch will be for the undisputed championship. Usyk has requested an exception from the IBF, which has previously said he would be stripped of his title if he did not fight his mandatory challenger. The sanctioning body is considering Usyk’s request.
Meanwhile, former light-welterweight world champion Amir Khan is in talks to fight on a Misfits card, BBC Sport understands.
Briton Khan, 37, has been linked with a bout against YouTuber-turned-boxer KSI. Misfits — the organisation set up by KSI, 30, and promotional partners Wasserman Boxing - considers its product sports entertainment.
A two-year doping ban handed to Khan following his fight against Kell Brook in February 2022 has now expired. Khan posted on social media suggesting he was in negotiations with KSI and would welcome a bout with YouTuber Jake Paul after.
“Be cautious what you desire,” Khan told Paul and KSI on X.
Misfits has been pivotal in the rise of ‘crossover boxing’, involving social media stars and celebrities contesting boxing bouts, but critics argue the promotional outfit - which has also staged gimmick tag-team fights — damages the integrity of the sport.
The organisation has parted ways from the Professional Boxing Association (PBA) and it is unclear which body would oversee a potential Misfits card featuring Khan.
Khan has previously held a boxing licence with the British Boxing Board of Control and most of his fights had been overseen by that governing body.
KSI, whose real name is Olajide William Olatunji, won on his pro boxing debut against Logan Paul in 2019 but lost his second fight, against Briton Tommy Fury, in 2023.
Khan, a 2004 Olympic silver medallist, retired from the sport in May 2022 with a record of 34 wins and six losses. He tested positive for ostarine in a UK Anti-Doping test taken on 19 February 2022, the night he lost to Brook.
Khan accepted he broke anti-doping rules but said it was not intentional. An independent tribunal accepted that argument, ruling out “deliberate or reckless conduct”.