BANGKOK, Thailand – Though the future of Oleksandr Usyk remains uncertain, the world heavyweight champion has promised he has no immediate plans to retire.
Usyk, 24-0 (15 KOs), has twice reigned as “undisputed” champion but both terms were short – predictably so when one considers the number of sanctioning bodies that are required to sing from the same hymn sheet to retain harmony.
In May 2024, Usyk added the WBC belt to the WBA, IBF and WBO belts that were already in his possession by defeating Tyson Fury to put an end to more than 25 years of alphabet confusion in the banner division. The contest was so eagerly fought a sequel was a natural yet its creation meant that the IBF’s order to defend that belt against Daniel Dubois, a man he’d defeated the previous year, had to be denied. Usyk relinquished the belt and duly defeated Fury in the return that December.
In July, he then bested Dubois for a second time to regain the IBF strap and once again stand tall as the champion of all four sanctioning bodies. The WBO, meanwhile, were lurking with a demand of their own. England’s Fabio Wardley had taken the interim title from Joseph Parker, winning the right to challenge Usyk in the process. With injuries still niggling the champion, he again opted to give up one of his titles - thus handing that WBO strap to Wardley and triggering suggestions that he was ducking the Englishman.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 63rd WBC Annual Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, the 38-year-old Ukrainian spoke of his appreciation to one organisation that is yet to revoke what is rightfully his.
“The green belt is always my favorite,” he said. “I [should] have four belts,” Usyk said. “Some people are saying I’m not undisputed champion anymore. Well, that is only temporary.”
About his current surroundings Usyk added: “I like Thailand. I thirst Thailand.”
It would seem his thirst for ruling the heavyweight division remains, too.
