By: Sean Crose
It was enjoyable whereas it lasted. Sadly, the world now not has an undisputed heavyweight champion. In a video message launched on Tuesday, Oleksandr Usyk introduced that he was vacating the IBF heavyweight title, leaving him in possession of the WBA, WBC, and WBO heavyweight titles, spectacular to make certain, however not the identical as holding on to all 4 titles concurrently. Usyk additionally made it clear that he feels the probably struggle between former world multi-titlist Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois will determine who the following IBF heavyweight champ can be. That bout, which is believed to go down on the twenty first of September, has but to be signed.
“Hey @anthonyjoshua, @dynamite_daniel_dubois,” Usyk posted. “The IBF Belt is my present for you for 21.09.2024 The world loves strong. Your friend, Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World, Oleksandr Usyk.” The reality is that the IBF had ordered Usyk to face Dubois subsequent. With a excessive profile rematch with Tyson Fury lined up for December, Usyk was left with little selection however to vacate the IBF belt. That’s excellent news for Joshua and Dubois, in fact, although not excellent news for many who wish to have a daily undisputed heavyweight king.
Not that Joshua and Dubois aren’t deserving of a title shot. Both males have fought Usyk, in spite of everything. And whereas each misplaced, it’s price remembering that Dubois almost dropped – some say actually dropped – the expert Ukrainian when the 2 males battled final 12 months. As for Joshua, he’s overwhelmed each opponent he’s ever confronted except for Usyk. Considering the truth that Joshua has fought 31 occasions, that document is sort of spectacular. On prime of all the things, followers are probably going to be fairly curious to see how the Usyk-Fury rematch performs out when it goes down this December in Saudi Arabia.
The first bout between the 2 males went down in May. It was a see-saw affair, with one man dominating, then one other. Usyk gained the very shut struggle because of his potential to show issues round because the bout wound on. Still, it might have been shut sufficient to warrant the rematch even when each males hadn’t already signed for one (which that they had). Although Usyk-Fury 2 is not going to be for the undisputed heavyweight title, will probably be for the appropriate to say one fighter or one other is the one finest heavyweight on the planet. It’s straightforward to grasp why Usyk has vacated the IBF belt.
