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 seemingly combat between former world multi-titlist Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois will determine who the subsequent IBF heavyweight champ shall 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 current for you for 21.09.2024 The world loves sturdy. Your pal, 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, after all, although not excellent news for individuals who need to have an everyday undisputed heavyweight king.
Not that Joshua and Dubois aren’t deserving of a title shot. Each males have fought Usyk, in spite of everything. And whereas each misplaced, it’s value remembering that Dubois practically dropped – some say actually dropped – the expert Ukrainian when the 2 males battled final yr. As for Joshua, he’s overwhelmed each opponent he’s ever confronted except for Usyk. Contemplating the truth that Joshua has fought 31 instances, that document is sort of spectacular. On prime of the whole lot, followers are seemingly going to be fairly curious to see how the Usyk-Fury rematch performs out when it goes down this December in Saudi Arabia.
The primary bout between the 2 males went down in Might. It was a see-saw affair, with one man dominating, then one other. Usyk gained the very shut combat because of his potential to show issues round because the bout wound on. Nonetheless, it might have been shut sufficient to warrant the rematch even when each males hadn’t already signed for one (which they’d). Though Usyk-Fury 2 is not going to be for the undisputed heavyweight title, it will likely be for the proper to assert one fighter or one other is the one greatest heavyweight on the planet. It’s simple to know why Usyk has vacated the IBF belt.
