Oleksandr Usyk announced that he is relinquishing his heavyweight titles but is yet to hang up his gloves. The 39-year-old champion from Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine, shared a video on social media stating he was giving up his belts so other fighters can compete for them, while he has one “last dance.”
- The three-time, two-division undisputed champion Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) comes off an 11th-round TKO victory over Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in May in Giza.
- With the victory, he retained his WBA and WBC heavyweight titles and also continued his reign in the IBF.
Usyk was then expected to face either Verhoeven in a rematch or Germany’s Agit Kabayel, who holds the interim WBC belt.
“Friends, good afternoon to everyone. Today is Friday, the weather is beautiful and it’s a good day to say that I want to vacate all the belts that I currently hold,” as per the English caption in a video that sees Usyk speaking in Ukrainian. “I want to make them available so the guys who are next in line can fight for them.”
“Friends, I’m leaving the belts, but I’m not leaving the sport, because I still have my ‘Last Dance.’ I want to thank everyone. I have great respect for all organizations. I want to thank everyone and say there’s more to come. Glory to God for everything and glory to Ukraine.”
Information on the next fight of Oleksandr Usyk is expected to follow shortly.