Oleksandr Usyk to vacate three heavyweight titles ahead of planned retirement bout

Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk announced Friday that he is vacating his trio of world titles ahead of what’s expected to be his retirement bout.

Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs), the 39-year-old former undisputed cruiserweight champion and two-time undisputed heavyweight king, posted a video to social media explaining his decision just one month after his come-from-behind TKO in Round 11 of former kickboxing star Rico Verhoeven during a fight in which the defending champion showed his age and struggled to avoid a massive upset. 

“It’s a good day to say that I want to vacate all the belts I currently hold,” Usyk said. “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 of the [sanctioning] organizations. I want to thank everyone and say that there is more to come.”

Usyk officially vacated his WBC, WBA and IBF titles, leaving only WBO champion Daniel Dubois as the last current heavyweight titleholder. The native of Ukraine, who moved up to heavyweight in 2019, knocked out Dubois in 2023 and in their 2025 rematch. 

A standout amateur who won Olympic gold at super heavyweight for Ukraine at the 2012 London Games, Usyk went on to author one of the most accomplished and respected professional careers in boxing history. 

As a cruiserweight, Usyk cleaned out the division during arguably its deepest era in history by unifying titles against unbeaten champions Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev in winning the World Boxing Super Series tournament in 2018. Then, despite being considered small at 6-foot-3 and roughly 225 pounds during this era of super heavyweights, the crafty southpaw put together an incredible resume in the sport’s glamour division. 

Usyk owns heavyweight wins over the likes of Anthony Joshua (twice), Tyson Fury (twice), Dubois (twice) and Derek Chisora despite competing in just nine total fights in the division. 

The Verhoeven fight raised plenty of questions, however, as Usyk looked undertrained and out of answers against the 37-year-old kickboxer, who was entering just his second pro boxing bout and first since 2014. 

Although Usyk expects to return for a final fight to close out his career, he gave no information about potential opponents or a timeframe.