LONDON: Heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk appears to be up for a trilogy fight but Tyson Fury is ahead of new WBO belt-holder Daniel Dubois in the queue of contenders.

The undefeated Ukrainian who holds the WBA, WBC and IBF boxing titles has beaten Dubois and British former champions Fury and Anthony Joshua twice each over the last five years and is short of viable opponents.

The 39-year-old takes on Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in Egypt on May 23 and is at a point in his career where he can do as he pleases rather than what other people might want.

Beating Dubois, who dealt Fabio Wardley a bloody pounding to take the WBO belt at the weekend,

would unify the division again but Usyk appears to have eyes for “Gypsy King” Fury ahead of the other familiar faces.

“Hi brother, I am ready. Every time. I am ready. Las Vegas, New York, Saudi Arabia — anything. Come on. Greedy Belly is my friend,” he said in a video clip re-posted after the Dubois fight by Saudi money man and Ring Magazine owner Turki Alalshikh.

The reference was clearly to Fury, who had challenged him earlier, and the 37-year-old responded in kind to an old foe he refers to as “rabbit”.

“Greedy Belly is coming for a feast of rabbit pie,” Fury said. “First I will start with the chinless bum, dosser, Anthony Joshua, and I will knock him out. Then I am coming back for a rabbit pie.

“There is only me, there is nobody else. I am the cash cow. You want big paydays, it ain’t an Anthony Joshua. It ain’t Dubois.”

Joshua, who lost an IBF title bout to Dubois in September 2024, has a fight scheduled for July 25 against former kickboxer Kristian Prenga in a tune-up bout before a long-awaited clash with Fury potentially in November.

Fury limbered up by outclassing Russia’s Arslanbek Makhmudov in London last month, the Briton’s first ring appearance since losing to Usyk for the second time in October 2024.

Dubois was knocked out by Usyk at Wembley last July after a first defeat to the Ukrainian in 2023 and the attraction of completing that trilogy may be less compelling for fans and the money men.

Wardley only became WBO champion because Usyk vacated the title, just as Dubois took the IBF belt after the Ukrainian offloaded it in 2024.

A rematch between Dubois and Wardley was in the contract for Saturday’s fight, according to promoter Frank Warren, and looks most likely — although the beaten champion will need time to recover from the brutal pounding he took in Manchester.

“If the rematch (with Wardley) happens, bring it on,” Dubois said on Saturday. “I want to grow from this fight, improve and come back even better and go on a reign as champion again.”

The WBO mandatory challenger is Britain’s Moses Itauma, who at 21 is an exciting young prospect.

Warren is also Itauma’s promoter and has mentioned a fight against an opponent yet to be decided at the O2 Arena in London on Aug 8.

The promoter has also said Itauma would be on course for a title shot by the end of the year.

There could be the risk of the sanctioning body stripping Dubois if that fight does not happen within a set time-frame, and of Usyk losing another of his titles if he rejects a mandatory defence.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2026