Oleksandr Usyk‘s longtime former promoter feels he may be staying in boxing too long. Even though they may no longer be together, Alex Krassyuk, who handled the better part of the heavyweight champion’s professional career until their amicable split in June 2025, believes he should consider hanging up the gloves after his distressing fight with Rico Verhoeven last week.

“If I were there to advise him, his next opponent would be his wife, Katarina,” Krassyuk told Boxing King Media. “His daughter Maria, his daughter Lisa, and his sons; his family matters; maybe his business issues.”

Those concerns became visible after what had been a difficult outing for Oleksandr Usyk. Though he managed to retain his WBC title with an 11th-round TKO win, the Ukrainian champion struggled to deal with Rico Verhoeven’s relentless pressure.

From the opening bell, Verhoeven, a former kickboxing champion who had only one professional boxing match on his record, kept pressing forward, barely showing any signs of being a novice.

As the rounds progressed, he forced Usyk into fighting on the back foot. The scorecards at the time of the stoppage suggested Usyk had put both his championship and perhaps even his boxing legacy at risk. While two judges had it even at 95-95, the third clearly had Verhoeven winning 96-94.

Still, his appearance also revealed a side rarely seen before. Usyk looked worn out and tired, very unlike the champion who just a year ago had cleanly demolished a much younger Daniel Dubois in the fifth round. This is what is concerning for Usyk’s former promoter—the fact that it was almost a touch-and-go for him there.

“It concerns me. It concerns every one of us,” Krassyuk added. “You can’t earn all monies of the world. You can’t beat all fighters of the world. But you need to take this decision. And this is a very difficult decision for a man like Usyk being on his prime, being on his top, uh being unbeaten and to leave. But think of the of the future.

“So I from the bottom of my heart I wish him I wish him to retire at his prime and being remembered in ages as one of the most prominent and greatest fighters of all times.”

Having known Usyk for as long as he has, the request does not seem out of place. Commenting on his performance, pound-for-pound star and four-division champion Shakur Stevenson agreed that “[Usyk] doesn’t look like he was in tip-top shape to me!”

That observation likely reflects the same concerns Krassyuk now appears to have.

Oleksandr Usyk already has his retirement plan in place

Nearing 40 and having withstood tough challenges one after another, including 24 rounds each with Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and 14 with Daniel Dubois, the body can only take so much punishment.

For his part, Usyk has already spoken about his future plans. While he wants to conclude his career with three fights, one already completed against Verhoeven, the Ukrainian seems clear on what he wants to do next after he hangs up the gloves.

“I will box until I am 41. And then I will build a sports academy and train there, and I will train there,” he told the media last year.

Yet, retirement may not come as easily as Krassyuk hopes.

The fight against Verhoeven has raised a few questions, and Usyk now needs to answer them. Given his nature and track record, he’s most likely to respond by either entering a rematch or pursuing another high-profile matchup, including against Agit Kabayel, that would prove he’s not entirely shot.