Usyk vacates titles before 'last dance'

Oleksandr Usyk said on Friday he had vacated his WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight championships to pursue a final fight.

The 39-year-old Ukrainian has won all of his 25 professional bouts and became an undisputed heavyweight champion when he handed Briton Tyson Fury his first loss in 2024.

"Today is a good day to announce that I want to give up all the titles that I now hold. To leave them free so that all the guys that are standing in line behind me can box for them," Usyk said in an Instagram video.

"My friends, I am giving up my titles but I am not leaving sport because I have a last dance... there is more to come. Glory to God, Glory to Ukraine."

The 2012 Olympic champion relinquished his WBO championship last year and got a TKO win over Rico Verhoeven last month.

Kickboxer Verhoeven had tested Usyk before the Ukrainian scored two knockdowns in the 11th round and earned a stoppage, and the competitive nature of the bout gave rise to calls for a rematch.

With Usyk vacating his belts, he no longer has any mandatory title defences blocking a possible second bout with Verhoeven.

German boxer Agit Kabayel, who is the current WBC interim champion, may now be promoted to full championship status.

Usyk's sporting director Sergey Lapin told ESPN that the Ukrainian had vacated the belts to give former champion Anthony Joshua, whom Usyk has beaten twice, a chance to reunify them.

"As for Oleksandr, his goal has always been to finish his legendary career with his final fights in the United States, where he wants to leave the last chapter of his boxing legacy," Lapin said.

Usyk became an undisputed cruiserweight champion in 2018 before his long-awaited move up to the heavyweight division.

He took the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts in 2021 with a unanimous decision over Briton Joshua in London.

Usyk also beat Joshua in the rematch and knocked out Daniel Dubois before meeting fellow undefeated boxer Fury twice, outpointing the British veteran in both bouts.

Winning the WBC belt from Fury made Usyk the first male undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era.