Usyk’s Silence After Wardley KO Fuels Fury Trilogy Talk

Oleksandr Usyk’s silence since WBA interim heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley’s 11th-round knockout win over WBO interim champion Joseph Parker on October 25 has been disturbing.

Usyk’s Vanishing Act After Wardley’s Breakout Win

The undisputed champion Usyk had gone on record that he would face the winner of the fight. His silence since Wardley’s upset victory over Parker suggests to some that he’s not interested in facing him.

Fabio (20-0-1, 19 KOs) has a different type of fighting style compared to Parker. He has a high output, and he pressures nonstop. The 38-year-old Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) wouldn’t be able to count on scoring a knockout against the steel-chinned Wardley like he did in his recent fifth-round knockout win over Daniel Dubois on July 19, 2025.

Is Usyk Weighing Legacy or Payday?

If Usyk is still holding out hope that Tyson Fury will come out of retirement to face him in a high-paying trilogy match, it makes sense for him to swerve the 30-year-old Wardley. Financially, it makes sense for Usyk to wait on that fight. He’d have to vacate his WBO title if he chooses to face Fury because the WBO has already mandated that Usyk must face their mandatory next. That’s Wardley now that he’s holding the WBO interim belt.

Silence From the Champ as Wardley Waits

“It’ll be presented to him. He’s been deafeningly silent, which is a bit alarming, given that he said he’d fight the winner,” said analyst Gareth A. Davies to BoxNation about Oleksandr Usyk having not said a word since Fabio Wardley’s upset win over Joseph Parker on October 25th, 2025.

It would be a hard fight for Usyk to face Wardley. He had problems as it is beating Fury and Anthony Joshua twice. Neither of those fighters has the engine or the chin that Fabio possesses. Considering a fight against Wardley would make any fighter think twice, especially one with the lucrative potential of a trilogy match against Fury.

Also, the age factor for the 38-year-old Usyk. He’s not young, and he’s already dismissed the idea of fighting another younger heavyweight, Moses Itauma. Wardley isn’t as young, obviously, but he’s considerably younger than him and the 37-year-old Fury and 36-year-old Joshua.

Wardley’s Engine and Chin Raise Real Questions

“It’ll be presented to him in terms of commercial viability here on whether that fight does work, and it does need a big stadium fight for it to work,” said Gareth about a fight against Wardley. “And we need Fabio to be out there in the public domain, or Usyk will say, ‘You know what? I’m going to have to go 12 hard rounds with this bugger. He’s going to keep on coming. I’m really going to have to fight him. I’m going to vacate.’”

It would be a tough fight for Usyk to face Wardley. Just going by how Usyk struggled against Fury twice in 2024, it wouldn’t be a huge shock if he were to lose to Wardley. It’s a bad style matchup for him. If he could count on knocking out Wardley early like he did against Dubois, it would be worth the risk to fight him. But he doesn’t hit hard enough to seriously hurt a fighter like Wardley, which means he would be forced to go 12 hard rounds to defeat him.

“We know that Usyk is being pursued by Tyson Fury for a third fight. That became more prevalent [after Wardley’s win]. He really is after that third fight with,” said Gareth.