The primary undisputed heavyweight championship reign of the twenty first century barely lasted one full month.
Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 knockouts) has formally vacated his IBF title in a call he made public on Tuesday. The undefeated, two-division RING and undisputed champion relinquished the strap only one month—almost to the day—after he filed an exception with the IBF to keep away from being stripped of the title.
Usyk requested for an extension in hopes of defending all of the heavyweight {hardware} in a contractually certain rematch with Tyson Fury. The 2 are as a consequence of meet in a Dec. 21 rematch. Usyk defeated Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) by way of 12-round resolution to totally unify the choice on
With the declaration, Daniel Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) shall be elevated to full titlist from his interim title standing.
The timing was removed from coincidental.
It got here on the eve of a significant press convention deliberate Wednesday in London to announce the September 21 Riyadh Season present at Wembley Stadium. Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry Promotions didn’t reveal any particulars on the occasion. Nonetheless, the worst-kept secret was its headliner. Dubois will face former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs), No. 2 at heavyweight.
Wednesday’s announcement will now carry with elevated stakes for the primary occasion.
“Anthony and Daniel, pay attention: I do know, IBF title [is] vital to you,” Usyk mentioned in a video posted on his social media channel. “Name it my current to you on September 21.”
Curiously, the matchup is between the 2 heavyweights Usyk defeated simply prior to totally unifying the division.
He knocked out Dubois within the ninth spherical of an Aug. 26 unified heavyweight title protection in Wroclaw, Poland. The win got here after Usyk twice outpointed Joshua. He claimed the WBA, IBF and WBO titles in a Sept. 2021 factors win over the hulking Brit, then added The Ring championship with a repeat feat in Aug. 2022.
Usyk then went on to defeat Fury to turn out to be a two-division, undisputed champion. He beforehand held all of the {hardware} at cruiserweight earlier than he abdicated the throne in 2019.
Dubois claimed the interim model of the IBF belt with an eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic on June 1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Croatia’s Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) was the necessary challenger on the time and ready to have Usyk stripped of the title. Dubois torched these plans with the upset win, as he continues to breathe new life into his up-and-down profession.
The feat got here lower than six months after Dubois ‘daddied’ Jarrell Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs) by way of tenth-round stoppage final Dec. 23 at Kingdom Area. That very same occasion noticed Joshua earn fifth-round stoppage of Otto Wallin.
Joshua then flattened former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou within the second spherical on March 8 in the exact same venue. The win was his fourth straight, all in a span of 49 weeks.
Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) stays the division’s RING champion and nonetheless holds the WBA, WBC and WBO titles. The unbeaten Ukraine entered his Might 18 full unification bout versus Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) with the data that his IBF reign could possibly be in jeopardy, even with a win.
Observe @JakeNDaBox
