Tyson Fury’s push for a trilogy with Oleksandr Usyk just lost its most obvious target.

The Ukrainian is instead lining up a shock move back to cruiserweight for the final stretch of his career, four months after stepping away from three of his heavyweight world titles.

Usyk’s promotional CEO and advisor Serhii Lapin spelled out the thinking in comments to Sky Sports.

“Usyk has already cleaned out the heavyweight division. Now he is considering a return to cruiserweight, his natural weight class, to make history again. He loves challenges, and this could be the next one he’d like to take on,” Lapin said.

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A second undisputed run at 200lb

Usyk ruled cruiserweight long before he ever stepped up. He became the first fighter to hold all four major belts at 200lb in the four-belt era, then repeated the trick at heavyweight by beating Fury twice in 2024.

Doing it a third time at cruiserweight would make him a rare two-weight undisputed champion in two different eras, and that historic line appears to be driving the plan.

Lapin’s plan: pick up the vacant belt, then unify

Lapin told The Ring the strategy is to pick up the vacant IBF cruiserweight belt first, then push for a unification showdown with David Benavidez to collect the rest.

Benavidez says the talks are live

The American has not been shy about naming Usyk. Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Benavidez confirmed his camp had already been in contact with Usyk’s team.

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“We have spoken to Usyk about [him] coming down to cruiserweight. It would be for undisputed, obviously,” Benavidez said.

Benavidez won the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles with a sixth-round stoppage of Gilberto Ramirez in May. He defends against WBC titleholder Michal Cieslak on 5 December, and has publicly outlined a three-fight run at cruiserweight that puts Jai Opetaia and Artur Beterbiev ahead of any Usyk bout.

Fury has already moved on

The practical casualty is Fury, who lost both of his heavyweight meetings with Usyk in 2024 and has publicly called for a third fight ever since.

He is now facing Anthony Joshua on 11 December in Cardiff, the long-delayed all-British heavyweight showdown at the Principality Stadium.

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A trilogy with Usyk would now require Fury to follow him two weight classes down to cruiserweight, something neither camp has floated as a serious option.

Usyk turns 40 in January, and the next concrete marker in his cruiserweight plan is Benavidez’s title defence against Cieslak on 5 December.

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