Oleksandr Usyk became the undisputed world heavyweight champion with his victory over Tyson Fury, but he could lose one of his prized belts by the end of the month.
Fury and Usyk met in Saudi Arabia in a historic bout to crown the division’s first solo world champion since Lennox Lewis unified the division 25 years ago.
In a long-running battle, Usyk fought back against Floor Fury in the ninth round, earning a split decision victory over “The Gypsy King.”
With this, he added the WBC belt to a collection that already includes WBO, WBA and IBF titles.
However, given the politics of boxing and the actions of its sanctioning body, Usyk is expected to “likely vacate the IBF title within two weeks.”
Each sanctioning body has a mandatory challenger for each belt, and a rotation system determines which belt will be defended first. Usyk’s most recent “mandatory” title defense was last August, when he defeated WBA No. 1 contender Daniel Dubois.
In the case of the IBF, the mandatory challenger is Filip Hrgovic, who has long been considered the next favorite to win the world title.
The IBF did not force a mandatory title defense to allow Fury vs. Usyk to take place, but boxing journalist Dan Rafael reports that Usyk will be forced to vacate the belt within the next two weeks. Therefore, IBF does not intend to wait any longer.
Rafael reports that this decision is part of the Fury vs. Whisk fight deal.
Hrgovic is scheduled to face Dubois in June, where it is expected that the newly vacant belt will be on the line.
If the rematch takes place later this year, only three belts will be on the line: the WBC, WBA and WBO belts, meaning Usyk’s reign as undisputed champion will be very short-lived.
This is similar to the situation Fury found himself in after winning his first world title in 2015.
Fury outclassed Wladimir Klitschko, even agreeing to a rematch clause with the Ukrainian, and won the IBF, WBO and WBA titles. Meanwhile, IBF had already lined up Vyacheslav Glaskov as a mandatory challenger.
The IBF stripped Fury of the title 10 days after his victory, as Fury opted for a rematch with Klitschko.
A rematch between Fury and Klitschko ultimately did not materialize, with Fury relinquishing other titles due to his declining mental health.
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