As Fabio Wardley gears up for his heavyweight title clash with Daniel Dubois this weekend, the British contender is keeping his expectations grounded—especially when it comes to a potential showdown with unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk recently hinted he’d consider facing the winner of Saturday’s bout, but Wardley isn’t holding his breath. “I’ve been in this situation before,” Wardley said, recalling a similar promise from Usyk that never materialized after his fight with Joseph Parker. “He said he’d fight the winner, then he didn’t. So it’s not something I’m going to hold my breath on. If he wants to fight, he doesn’t need to call—he can send a carrier pigeon. I’ll get the message and we’ll get it on. But who knows what the future holds with Oleksandr Usyk?”

The 31-year-old Wardley also weighed in on the buzz around David Benavidez potentially moving up to heavyweight—a notion his father recently floated, suggesting Usyk might be one of the few who could challenge him. Wardley wasn’t convinced. “It might be a step too far. There’s a big difference jumping from where he was to cruiserweight, and an even bigger gap going from cruiserweight to heavyweight. That doesn’t seem like anything in the realm of possibility at the moment.”

When asked why Usyk might be avoiding him, Wardley offered a pragmatic take. “I don’t think it’s about me personally. It’s where he’s at in his career. There’s an obvious reason he’s fighting a kickboxer instead of me—and I can’t say I disagree with it. I understand why. I’m pretty confident he’ll come through in that next fight, but it might reveal a lot about Oleksandr that we didn’t know. Maybe even he knows he’s not the same fighter he was a couple of years ago.”

For now, Wardley’s focus remains on Dubois—and on proving he belongs among the heavyweight elite, with or without a shot at the Ukrainian legend.