Ukraine’s Usyk mentioned during Monday’s episode of “Inside The Ring” that the Fabio Wardley-Daniel Dubois winner and Tyson Fury are future foes that interest him most after he opposes kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven on May 23 in the main event of a Ring card at The Pyramids of Giza near Cairo, Egypt.

There would be plenty of fan interest in a third meeting with Fury based on the competitiveness of their first two heavyweight title fights, Fury’s superstar status and their rivalry. But who, exactly, would be willing to fund a third Usyk-Dubois fight, even if Dubois destroys the favored Wardley on May 9 at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England?

Watching Usyk dismantle Dubois twice was more than enough. Wardley, of course, would deserve his shot at Usyk if he wins.

It would seem, therefore, that Usyk’s upcoming fight against a huge underdog with one pro boxing match on his record will come at Kabayel’s expense. The exotic location and Usyk’s undeniable history of taking tough fights have somewhat limited criticism of the two-time undisputed heavyweight champ opposing a boxing novice in what the WBC predictably sanctioned as a title fight.

To be clear, Usyk, 39, is obviously a generational great who, even at his advanced age, remains one of the sport’s top two pound-for-pound performers.

There is still no defending his continuing to avoid Kabayel (27-0, 19 KOs), a brutal body puncher who would test Usyk’s difficulty dealing with such shots. The WBC interim champ has more than earned his title shot by knocking out previously unbeaten contenders Arslanbek Makhmudov and Frank Sanchez in back-to-back bouts and knocking out former WBO interim champ Zhilei Zhang.

They could also do big business if Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) fights Kabayel in the challenger’s home country of Germany. Usyk shouldn’t have a problem with that, considering that’s what he did for his rematch with Dubois and his first fight with Joshua, both of which were held in London, and each of his wins against Marco Huck (Germany), Mairis Briedis (Latvia) and Murat Gassiev (Russia) in the World Boxing Super Series’ cruiserweight tournament.

Unfortunately, Usyk clearly has no interest in giving Kabayel, The Ring’s No. 2 contender, the legitimate title shot he more than earned.

Kabayel won the WBC interim title by beating Zhang more than a year ago. It’s thus time for the WBC to follow the lead of the WBO, which stripped Usyk of its title when he refused to make his mandated defense against Wardley.

Devin Haney’s stance on negotiating with Ryan Garcia is understandable.

Garcia is, after all, the one who came in three-plus pounds overweight for their fight in April 2024, tested positive for a banned substance (Ostarine) and lost to Rolly Romero 10 months ago, when he was an 11-1 favorite. Those are among the reasons why Haney doesn’t want to argue about who’s the “A” side in their rematch or give Garcia anything beyond what he believes is fair while trying to complete a deal for them to fight again.

That said, neither of them should commit the same mistake they made last year.

Haney’s impressive performance against Brian Norman on November 22 and Garcia’s easy victory over Mario Barrios on February 21 have made their rematch one of the most anticipated fights in boxing again. Getting in the ring with anyone apart from each other next would provide evidence that they didn’t learn anything from what happened on The Ring’s card May 2 at Times Square in New York.

Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) would be heavily favored if he instead faces Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) on May 30 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, as their teams have discussed. Romero remains dangerous, though, and would be very motivated to prevent a Haney-Garcia rematch from happening again.

Unlike last year, a Haney-Garcia rematch would be a welterweight title unification fight. Haney won the WBO belt from Norman and Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) took the WBC crown from Barrios (29-3-2, 18 KOs). Beyond bringing the winner halfway to undisputed status in the 147-pound division, neither Haney nor Garcia would make more money for fighting other opponents.

Above all else, that’s what would make it foolish for them to delay their rematch again.

Even if the IBF changes course and allows Jai Opetaia to keep its cruiserweight championship, the unbeaten Australian southpaw’s path to undisputed will be filled with other obstacles.

For argument’s sake, let’s operate on the premise that Opetaia (30-0, 23 KOs) keeps his IBF belt and beats WBC champ Noel Mikaelian (28-3, 12 KOs), the opponent he said Sunday he wants to fight next. The Ring champion would then need to beat the winner between WBA/WBO champ Gilberto Ramirez (48-1, 30 KOs) and David Benavidez (31-0, 25 KOs), who fight May 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

If the favored Benavidez emerges victorious, the WBC light heavyweight champ could return to the 175-pound division for a higher-profile fight against Ring/IBF/WBA/WBO champ Dmitry Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs). Benavidez could keep the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles and be allowed to pick a division after he boxes Bivol, which would keep Opetaia from attempting to achieve his dream for an extended period of time.

If the WBA and WBO stripped Benavidez in that scenario, two contenders could emerge with those titles, which would add another step in Opetaia’s pursuit of becoming a fully unified champ — and for a lot less money than he’d make for a Benavidez bout.

Even worse, if Ramirez upsets Benavidez, does anyone think his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, would willingly work with Dana White, someone he openly despises, on an Opetaia-Ramirez fight?

■ At least the IBF got it right by stripping Janibek Alimkhanuly of its middleweight title. The WBO suspended the Kazakh southpaw for a year, but it allowed him to keep its 160-pound championship despite testing positive for Meldonium before his ill-fated title unification fight with WBA champ Erislandy Lara three months ago.

■ Arnold Barboza against Kenneth Sims is an interesting, quintessential crossroads fight that figures to be very competitive Saturday night at Honda Center in Anaheim, California (DAZN). They both badly need to win this 12-round welterweight main event following points losses last year to Teofimo Lopez (Barboza) and Oscar Duarte (Sims).

■ Jazza Dickens is on a respectable four-fight run and is one of boxing’s most inspiring examples of perseverance. Still can’t see the British southpaw pulling off an upset against Anthony Cacace on Saturday night. Though technically the challenger for Dickens’ WBA 130-pound title, Belfast’s Cacace is much more proven at the championship level and still seems to have something left at 37 years old. DAZN will also stream their main event from 3Arena in Dublin.