Oleksandr Usyk Vacates Championship Titles to Decide Final Chapter

Oleksandr Usyk has vacated his heavyweight world championships to decide the final chapter of his career himself.

What happened?

Oleksandr Usyk relinquished his WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles to bring new life to the heavyweight division and give new champions the opportunity to prove themselves. The decision was made to allow Usyk to plot out his own course to retirement, rather than allowing circumstances or mandatory title defences to make that decision for him.

Why it matters for Oleksandr Usyk

Usyk's decision to vacate his championship titles marks a significant turning point in his career. As an Olympic gold medallist and undisputed world champion in two weight divisions, Usyk has achieved almost everything that can be achieved in boxing. He has beaten the modern heavyweight elite, holding two wins apiece over Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Daniel Dubois.

What comes next?

The WBC has now ruled that Agit Kabayel will be its new heavyweight champion, with the IBF and WBA still to decide what next for their newly-vacated belts. Kabayel was the holder of a WBC interim title, making him the mandatory challenger and next in line to fight Usyk for the full championship.

Usyk's promoter, Sergey Lapin, explained that the decision to vacate the titles was made to bring new life to the heavyweight division and give new champions the opportunity to prove themselves. "Now he wants to decide for himself what the final chapter of his career will look like, rather than allowing circumstances or mandatory title defences to make that decision for him," Lapin said.

Usyk has been an undisputed world champion at cruiserweight and twice over at heavyweight and is still undefeated as a professional boxer. To retain his WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles, Usyk was facing a raft of mandatory challengers. But he only wants to fight once more in his career and has vacated his belts so he can plot out his own course to retirement.

Usyk's decision to vacate his championship titles has been met with congratulations from the boxing community. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said: "Just finished an incredibly sensitive Zoom video call with Agit Kabayel, George Warren, Spencer Brown and some WBC board members in have confirmed that Agit is the WBC heavyweight champion of the world as per the WBC board of governors voting. Congratulations champ!"

Usyk's next move is still unclear, but one thing is certain - he will be back in the ring once more before he hangs up his gloves for good.

category: player_focus