Should Usyk keep one belt and vacate the others?

[Zelda]

I like Usyk, and I like the idea that we have only one champion, but it's a reality that there are multiple sanctioning bodies, and other boxers are waiting for their chances to get a crack at the HW belt (of some sanctioning body). Let's look at the scenario.

• Usyk fought Joshua back in September 2021 to become the unified champion, holding 3 of the 4 major belts.
• Usyk fought Joshua again in August 2022 (almost one year later). At that time, Fury held the WBC belt.
• Usyk fought Dubois in August 2023 (again, one year later) to retain all the belts.
• Usyk fought Fury in May 2024 to unify the division and won the WBC belt as well. He then vacated the IBF belt.
• Usyk fought Fury again in December 2024 to retain all the belts to defend all his belts.
• Usyk fought Dubois again in July 2025 to regain the IBF title and become a unified champion.

All that is fine, and nobody can fault Usyk for taking the difficult fights. But look at it from the other boxers' perspective. Nobody has had the opportunity to fight for a world title in 4 years other than these 3 boxers, who got multiple opportunities (and lost). Assuming Usyk (or any other boxer in his place) were to fight every 6 months (a wishful thinking at best) from now on, that still means one of those sanctioning bodies' contenders will have to wait a further 2 years for Usyk to go around all the belts, assuming there is no unification or rematches in between.

So, should Usyk just keep one belt now and vacate the rest, so that others can get a chance and make the division more exciting?

[Toffee]

We all wanted an Undisputed champion. For years it seemed close but somehow kept falling apart... but what I think the promoters understood was that the journey was far more interesting than the conclusion.

Then Turki came along and made it happen, along with top level undercard fights between contenders. And how does the heavyweight division look now? Usyk has obviously done well out of it, Kabayel and Parker have established themselves as challengers, but the rest have been eliminated.

The OP makes a good point. AIl the belts with one fighter sounds great, but it limits movement in the division. And that's far more damaging to the sport than not having one face, one name...

Usyk can do what he wants now. He's won the era. But the division will need to rebuild and establish new contenders, titlists, potential undisputed champions. All part of the cycle.

[drablj]

usyk is old and he should retire. if he wants to be a champion a little longer, he should keep his wba belt just until somebody, anybody eliminates pulev. what usyk absolutely shouldn't do is keep 4 belts and don't fight for a year.

[SilverMiles]

I like Usyk, and I like the idea that we have only one champion, but it's a reality that there are multiple sanctioning bodies, and other boxers are waiting for their chances to get a crack at the HW belt (of some sanctioning body). Let's look at the scenario.

• Usyk fought Joshua back in September 2021 to become the unified champion, holding 3 of the 4 major belts.
• Usyk fought Joshua again in August 2022 (almost one year later). At that time, Fury held the WBC belt.
• Usyk fought Dubois in August 2023 (again, one year later) to retain all the belts.
• Usyk fought Fury in May 2024 to unify the division and won the WBC belt as well. He then vacated the IBF belt.
• Usyk fought Fury again in December 2024 to retain all the belts to defend all his belts.
• Usyk fought Dubois again in July 2025 to regain the IBF title and become a unified champion.

All that is fine, and nobody can fault Usyk for taking the difficult fights. But look at it from the other boxers' perspective. Nobody has had the opportunity to fight for a world title in 4 years other than these 3 boxers, who got multiple opportunities (and lost). Assuming Usyk (or any other boxer in his place) were to fight every 6 months (a wishful thinking at best) from now on, that still means one of those sanctioning bodies' contenders will have to wait a further 2 years for Usyk to go around all the belts, assuming there is no unification or rematches in between.

So, should Usyk just keep one belt now and vacate the rest, so that others can get a chance and make the division more exciting?

Wilder, Chisora, Hgovich, and White have all fought for a world title within the last 4 years.

I think boxing fans like the idea of undisputed champion but get bored quickly of their being one champion, especially when that champion is only fighting once or twice a year

[famicommander]

Better idea: abolish the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO, and Ring. Screw all the belts.

[pollywog]

They've run out of British hype jobs for Usyk to feast on twice.Usyk needs to fight Parker and defend the undisputed tag.

If he fights anyone else, he'll get stripped and his legacy will be diluted cos all he would have done is expose how Brit promoters held the straps to ransom with ducks and rematches hyping up 3 flawed and fragile losers in Joshua, Fury and Dubois.

[Zelda]

Wilder, Chisora, Hgovich, and White have all fought for a world title within the last 4 years.

I think boxing fans like the idea of undisputed champion but get bored quickly of their being one champion, especially when that champion is only fighting once or twice a year

Those fights took place when Usyk did not hold the WBC title (Fury did, for Wilder, Whyte, and Chisora) or Dubois briefly held the IBF belt (Hrgovic fight). And yes, it was fun and exciting watching those fights, except perhaps the Chisora one. Usyk's fought the same guys twice for the last 4 years. So, yes, I like the idea of undisputed from time to time, but not a single person holding the division for a long time and fighting only once or twice a year with rematches involved.

Given the current rankings, if Usyk were to keep the WBC or become super champion, we could get some competitive fights like Chisora vs Ajagba for the IBF title, Wardley vs Hunter for the WBA, Parker vs Itauma for the WBO. Not only these fights, but it will make some of the fighters more serious in positioning themselves for world titles.

	IBF	WBA	WBC	WBO
1.		Kubrat Pulev (R)	Agit Kabayel (I)	Joseph Parker (I)
2.	Derek Chisora	Fabio Wardley	Lawrence Okolie	Moses Itauma
3.	Efe Ajagba	Michael Hunter	Anthony Joshua	Filip Hrgovic
4.	Frank Sanchez	Moses Itauma	Efe Ajagba	Zhilei Zhang
5.	Anthony Joshua	Lineir Pero	Martin Bakole	Lawrence Okolie

[Zelda]

They've run out of British hype jobs for Usyk to feast on twice.Usyk needs to fight Parker and defend the undisputed tag.

If he fights anyone else, he'll get stripped and his legacy will be diluted cos all he would have done is expose how Brit promoters held the straps to ransom with ducks and rematches hyping up 3 flawed and fragile losers in Joshua, Fury and Dubois.

The mill will keep churning out more...we already have Moses Itauma. He might be a good boxer but has been hyped up far more than he has achieved or the level of opposition he fought.

[Willow The Wisp]

A bit of history on this matter:

Each of the 9 incorporated boxing sanctioning bodies (5 currently being "acknowledged" in the Media/Blogger community in English speaking countries); are notorious and sometimes even felonious; and perfectly irrelevant at heavyweight, where the title liniage is universally acknowledged and uncontested amongst boxing's historians.

The so-called "title sanctioning body" companies can sell their belts to whatever promotional companies they please, and those belts can land around the waist of any contender, fringe contender or non-contender in the world (as they frequently do), with no effect on the Heavyweight Championship of the World.

The WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO, WBU, etc, are strictly self-appointed and mean little at the Heavyweight/Open division.


You want the one real title? Beat Usyk, or wait for him to retire.

Regarding the latter choice:

THE Historical Precedent states that, should Usyk came back after a retirement announcement, he retains the linear claim for up to 48 months should he return to action, but only if he fights one of the top 2 acknowledged new title claimants on the scene, within 3 fights of his return; and wins, will he retain the title and be recognized as the champion in recess for the duration of his absence; thus nullifying any conflicting title claims made during that period for the linial title (Fury). However, should he lose the fight against the new title claimant, his reign as champion will be regarded as having concluded upon his initial retirement announcement (Louis, Ali, Ali 2). Should the sitting champion retire and remain retired for greater than 48 months before announcing and fulfilling a return to the ring, his claim to the title will no longer be valid, and in a title bout arranged during a return to action, he will be listed as the challenger for the title he once held (Jeffries).


Aborted retirements while holding the crown - Duration of retirements from official announcement to comeback fight:


Jeffries 05/05 - 07/10 62 months
Louis 03/49 - 09/50 18 months
Ali 04/67 - 10/70 42 months
Ali 2 07/79 - 10/80 15 months
Fury. 10/16 - 06/18 20 months


Tunney, Marciano and Lewis are the only modern era heavyweight champions to have successfully retired as champion and not come back. Each of these had relinquished any claim as champion, therefore, at their retirement.

[JakeTheBoxer]

While he is around, he is the only champion, until he loses to somebody. Getting gifted belt doesn't make you being a champ, only a titlist.