Oleksandr Usyk Officially Releases All His Heavyweight Belts

JAKARTA - Undisputed two-time heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk has made a very surprising decision by announcing that he will give up all of his championship belts.

He announced the decision through his official Instagram social media on Friday, June 26, 2021, WIB evening. However, he will still undergo a fight before deciding to retire from the world that has freed his name.

"I want to say that I decided to vacate all the belts that I currently hold," the Ukrainian fighter said in a video he uploaded.

The 39-year-old boxer with a professional record of always winning currently holds the WBC, WBA, and IBF belts. With this decision, it automatically makes the map of the world heavyweight competition open again.

Usyk stated that the belts were deliberately released so that the next challengers could fight for them.

"This is a decision that I have considered carefully and I am confident it will open up new opportunities for me. This is not the end of the story. The continuation of this story is still waiting ahead," he said.

Even though he left the champion status, Usyk emphasized that he still has one last fight before he really hangs up his boxing gloves.

Usyk is one of the best heavyweight boxers of the current generation. He won the heavyweight world title in 2021 after defeating Anthony Joshua and then made history as the undisputed heavyweight champion by defeating Tyson Fury.

His career journey in the heavyweight class became even more glorious after successfully stopping Daniel Dubois to become the undisputed heavyweight champion for the second time. Before dominating the heavyweight class, he was also an undisputed champion in the cruiserweight class once.

Usyk last fought on May 23, 2026, defeating former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven at the Giza Pyramids, Egypt. The referee's decision to stop the match at the end of the 11th round made the result of the duel controversial.

After the duel, Usyk is scheduled to face mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel to defend the WBC belt. However, with this decision, Kabayel has the opportunity to rise to the status of a new world champion.

In addition to Kabayel, young British boxer Moses Itauma is also on the path to winning the heavyweight title. Itauma will face Croatian boxer Filip Hrgovic on August 29 at the O2 Arena, London.

Itauma is also eyeing a big fight against WBO champion Daniel Dubois in a British boxing duel projected to take place next year.