Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk remains on the hunt for his next opponent after conquering his division.
The 38-year-old from Ukraine retained his WBC, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles in December with a second consecutive points decision victory over Tyson Fury, cementing himself as arguably the greatest heavyweight of his generation.
Usyk appears to have expressed his desire to continue his boxing career instead of walking away from the sport and has stated his desire to move back down to cruiserweight at some point.
JUST IN: Francis Ngannou and Deontay Wilder fight on the cards as shock plan emerges
Undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev declared he would be interested in moving up to face the Ukrainian at 200lbs, in what would be a rematch of their 2007 amateur contest.
“I repeat, from a pure sporting perspective I would be interested in this fight, of course, because we boxed in the Olympics and the World Championships as amateurs.
It would be interesting to try as professionals, not for money, although money would be nice, but my interest in this fight would be purely sporting, much more than monetary. Much more.”
However, the Russian superstar now looks to have made a U-turn on his initial decision. Speaking to FightHub TV, Beterbiev was asked to share his thoughts on a potential rematch with Usyk, claiming the Ukrainian is actually ‘too strong’ for him.
“No, he’s too strong for me you know. He’s like heavyweight you know it’s too strong even if he came back down. He’s too strong [even at cruiserweight], too good.”
The 40-year-old is gearing up to face light heavyweight rival Dmitry Bivol for the second time in their highly anticipated undisputed championship rematch, which takes place on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Beterbiev got the better of Bivol in their first meeting last October, as he now looks to cement himself as the greatest light heavyweight of his generation.
