Mike Tyson has urged Oleksandr Usyk to face one of his closest rivals, rather than enter an immediate rematch with Rico Verhoeven.
The Ukrainian is seemingly considering his options following his last outing, which resulted in a somewhat controversial 11th-round stoppage victory over Verhoeven.
Rather surprisingly, Usyk was plunged into a competitive battle with the former kickboxer, whose only previous professional boxing match saw him stop a journeyman in the second round of their 2014 encounter.
Verhoeven was therefore considered an almighty underdog but nonetheless produced a commendable performance last month, remaining competitive with the heavyweight champion for 10 completed rounds.
The Dutchman then suffered a knockdown and was waved off on his feet by referee Mark Lyson, whose intervention came after the bell had sounded.
But while there have been calls for an immediate rematch between the pair, Usyk has since been ordered to defend his WBC title against mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel.
As the WBC ‘interim’ champion, Kabayel has been awaiting his shot at the full title since stopping Zhilei Zhang with a sixth-round body onslaught in February 2025.
And despite having shown considerable patience during this time, the 33-year-old is clearly becoming increasingly frustrated by the situation, so much so that he has posted a social media clip of ‘Iron Mike’ demanding Usyk to defend his WBC, IBF and WBA titles against him.
“Usyk, we’re waiting for you, brother. We need you, Usyk. We need that money, baby. Come get it.”
Usyk must now decide whether to face Kabayel, who has established himself as the most deserving contender, or vacate his WBC belt and pursue a Verhoeven rematch.
Alternatively, he may just hang up the gloves and call time on an illustrious career at 39 years old.
