Oleksandr Usyk surprised the boxing world earlier this month by stating that he wants to square off against Deontay Wilder.

The sentiment wasn’t simply a pipedream shared in passing. It turns out there was serious intent with the message.

Wilder said Thursday that the wheels are in motion to make the matchup a reality.

“The fight is in negotiations,” Wilder told Seconds Out. “My heart is pumping with joy, and I am excited. I think it's definitely going to happen. The best thing about it is that we are in negotiations. It's not just talk. These are real conversations that we are having with our teams. I am looking forward to it.”

The Ring, IBF, WBA and WBC champion Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) is running out of contemporaries to compete against after beating Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Daniel Dubois twice each over the last four years.

In Wilder, Usyk is enticed by the idea of facing a power-punching American and former long-reigning heavyweight titleholder who captured global attention during his heated rivalry against Fury from 2018 to 2021.

But Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs) is 2-4 over his last six fights since 2020, with the losses coming against Fury (TKO 7, KO 11), Joseph Parker (UD 12) and Zhilei Zhang (TKO 5). Wilder overcame injuries and mental health problems and returned in June to score a bounce-back seventh-round stoppage against Tyrrell Herndon.

Usyk, who turns 39 in January, vacated his WBO title last month because he believed a bout against Fabio Wardley wouldn't be good business.

There aren’t many greener pastures in the rest of the division for Usyk to pursue, outside of Wilder. Agit Kabayel is fighting for the WBC interim title in January, but his profile is similar to Wardley’s. The likes of Zhang, Parker, and Martin Bakole are coming off losses and still need to work their way back up the ladder. And then there is 20-year-old phenom Moses Itauma, who’s still in the process of earning his stripes as a top-flight contender.

“I want to definitely continue fighting next year. I will continue boxing. I want to fight Deontay Wilder,” Usyk told Boxing King Media last week. “For me, I think it is very interesting. [Wilder] is a world champion guy, a very famous guy, this is a strong guy, and he is one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of the last 10 years.”

Usyk has previously stated that he’d like to fight in the United States again before calling it a career. The Ukrainian hasn’t fought on American soil since 2019 and has just three fights stateside since turning pro in 2012 following a gold medal run in the Olympics.

An attractive venue for Usyk-Wilder could be Madison Square Garden in New York. The occasion would allow Usyk to face the best American heavyweight fighter of the era, all while catering to a large Ukrainian-American population, much like Vasiliy Lomachenko did six times throughout his career at MSG and MSG Theater.

“I know how boxing is, the business of it,” said Wilder. “I know you can have something one minute and the next minute you have nothing. But with this right here [in fighting Usyk], I think it's going to be solid. It's going to be a hell of a fight to watch.”