Ukraine’s Usyk cleaned out the cruiserweight division, fought Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois twice apiece since he moved up to heavyweight and, from his perspective, has done everything that was asked of him. Critics can complain all they want, but Usyk makes no apologies for convincing Turki Alalshikh to help fund what on paper appears to be a mismatch against an opponent with one professional boxing match on his record.

Fair enough. As they say, you’re worth as much as what one person is willing to pay you.

Assuming, though, that this is a one-off – and that the 39-year-old Usyk will indeed fight three more times before the generational great retires – the former undisputed champion isn’t far from the day he’ll need to start seriously thinking about who he’ll fight after he defeats Verhoeven in the main event of The Ring’s card May 23 at The Pyramids of Giza, near Cairo, Egypt.

Usyk’s most appealing option Fury is seemingly unavailable for a third bout because he’ll wait for Joshua to partake in a “warmup” bout in July before they finally fight in what still should emerge as the biggest fight in British boxing history. You can’t fault Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs) for wanting to get in the ring with Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs), who has become Usyk’s teammate of sorts, once and for all.

If Fury defeats Joshua, it will generate even more buzz for a third bout between “The Gypsy King” and Usyk, who won their back-to-back 12-round bouts by split decision and unanimous decision in 2024.

Beyond the obvious third Fury fight is where it becomes complicated for Uysk (24-0, 15 KOs), who owns The Ring, IBF, WBA and WBC titles.

As much as Usyk and his handlers might want to re-engage in negotiations for a fight with Deontay Wilder, it isn’t, based on Wilder’s decline, a marketable matchup in the United States and Ukraine is still at war with Russia. While Wilder (45-4-1, 43 KOs) edged Derek Chisora in their battle between faded 40-somethings April 4 at O2 Arena in London, Usyk-Wilder won’t appeal all that much to the boxing public in 2026.

Agit Kabayel, on the other hand, has more than earned his title shot. Unfortunately for Germany’s Kabayel (27-0, 19 KOs), Usyk doesn’t even mention the WBC interim champion’s name publicly and seems completely fine with not boxing Kabayel before he calls it a career.

The aforementioned factors make May 9 almost as important a date for the rest of Usyk’s career as May 23.

Usyk should pull for Fabio Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) to destroy Daniel Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs) that night in another DAZN Ultimate/DAZN Pay-Per-View main event at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.

If Dubois defeats Wardley in their fight for the WBO belt Wardley was given when Usyk declined to make a mandated defense against him, it’d be almost impossible to entice Turki Alalshikh – or anyone else – to provide financial backing for a third bout against an opponent Usyk already knocked out twice.

Should Wardley win, it would afford Usyk an attractive alternative to Fury and an event that would sell well in England, where Wardley would be an emerging star.

Alycia Baumgardner contends she doesn’t need England’s Caroline Dubois, The Ring lightweight champion who continually calls her out.

Maybe not, but Baumgardner definitely needs more significant challenges than what awaits her Friday night in a 10-round main event ESPN will televise from Madison Square Garden’s Infosys Theater (10 p.m. ET). It’s also contradictory for Detroit’s Baumgardner (17-1, 7 KOs, 1 NC) to insist boxing Dubois doesn’t interest her when she is about to fight an opponent, South Korea’s Bo Mi Re Shin, that Dubois decisively defeated 13 months ago.

Dubois (13-0-1, 5 KOs) settled for a majority-decision victory versus Shin only because a South Korean judge, Jae Bong Kim, scored their fight a draw (95-95). The other two judges, Victor Loughlin (98-93) and Perla Rodriguez (98-92), scored Dubois a comfortable winner in their fight for Dubois’ WBC lightweight title in March 2025 in London.

Baumgardner, The Ring’s junior lightweight champ, is a 16-1 favorite over Shin (19-3-3, 10 KOs).

She hasn’t lost since Christina Linardatou defeated her by split decision in an eight-rounder in July 2018 and is a talented unified champion. But Baumgardner is 3½ years removed from her signature victory, a narrow win over eventual three-division champ Mikaela Mayer, and should venture outside of the 130-pound division next to chase greatness.

Shadasia Green can increase interest in a fight against Claressa Shields – the bout Shields said she wants next – by becoming the first foe to knock out Lani Daniels in their 10-round super middleweight title fight Friday night in New York.

Daniels lasted all 10 rounds in a completely uncompetitive heavyweight championship match with Shields on July 26 in Detroit. New Zealand’s Daniels (11-4-2, 1 KO) dropped back down to the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds to challenge Ring champion Green (16-1, 11 KOs), who will also defend her IBF and WBO belts.

The 36-year-old Green, of Paterson, New Jersey, and the 37-year-old Daniels will square off in ESPN’s co-feature before Baumgardner and Shin meet in the main event.

■ Callum Smith-David Morrell would’ve been a compelling fight Saturday night in Smith’s hometown of Liverpool, England, perhaps the best bout you could make in the light heavyweight division that doesn’t include Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev or David Benavidez. Here’s hoping it can be rescheduled as soon as the undisclosed injury Smith sustained while training will allow.

■ It’s fascinating to watch someone whose entire existence is based on his “Money” persona take one public financial “L” after another, yet be unable to handle the mere thought of losing once in an official fight, even at 49 years old, when his boxing legacy is irreversible.

■ What was a less surprising sight Saturday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London – Tyson Fury threatening retirement after Anthony Joshua didn’t automatically accept his challenge from a ringside seat? Or Derek Chisora campaigning for another fight after insisting the previous Saturday night that he couldn’t fathom fighting again?