The Heavyweight Division In Flux: Usyk Dumps Titles

Unified Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk vacated the titles yesterday in preparation for a “Last Dance” finale. No other announcements have been made by the champion or his team about when he is fighting or who he is fighting. I fully expected the WBC title to be vacated as the organization was pushing for undefeated number one contender Agit Kabayel to get his mandatory challenge. Usyk is the champion with everyone chasing the man at the top and I felt Usyk did not want to be dictated to regarding who he fights. I am surprised that he vacated the other titles but it feels like the right thing to do if he is not going to take on the top challengers and hold up the division. The quotes from his team indicate that reasoning behind the decision. I also understand that it makes no sense to pay the sanctioning fees on the belts in a final fight. I want to use this post to analyze the situation and weigh in on the news.

The Fate of the Belts

The announcement vacates the WBC, IBF, and WBA titles. The likely fate of these titles will be two upgrades and a fight. Agit Kabayel will likely get upgrade to WBC Champion as he is the interim title holder. Murat Gassiev holds the regular version of the WBA and will probably be upgraded and have his first title defense on July 11th versus Tony Yoka. The only question is Frank Sanchez and whether he will be upgraded. He did defeat Richard Torrez by knockout recently.

This is a scenario not too different from the conclusion of Lennox Lewis’s reign. The champion exits while the belts fracture to lesser title holders. It will take some time for the upgraded champions to earn the respect of fans for not winning it in the ring. “Email champion” has become a derogatory term for champions who do not win their title in a fight. This situation is made more unique because Usyk has not retired or made his immediate plans clear. He will hang a specter of legitimacy over the division casting a shadow over these champions. What if he decides to go on longer than one fight? What if he sticks around for two to three more years?

The Belts & Legitimacy

Despite dumping the championship titles, everyone knows Usyk is the real champion. He unified the division, beat the best fighters, and is universally viewed as number one. Tyson Fury lived off the “lineal” claim for years. I used to care more about the sanctioning body titles and did not want to see illegitimate belt holders. At the same time I felt unifying the four titles and holding them was the most important objective for the sport. Over time, I just care more about the fights themselves. If a fighter wins the Ring Magazine or “lineal” title I feel that is significant enough to be the man for lack of a better term. If there is a weak titleholder, I don’t care much if the champion unifies versus that belt holder if there are better fights in the division. My problem and flaw in this system is the Agit Kabayel’s of boxing. These are the fighters who are dangerous but not a big enough name or draw to command the big money to make the risk worth the reward. Boxing should not shut these guys out but it always has when it’s convenient to do so. Usyk also got his big break versus Anthony Joshua because he was the WBO’s mandatory challenger and Joshua fought him rather than take the much bigger fight against Tyson Fury.

Zuffa Boxing Moving In?

Just about every major boxing move right now is going to involve speculation of what Zuffa Boxing is going to do. Any significant free agent is likely to be given a serious offer. Dana White is in bed with Turki Al-Sheikh who controls Ring Magazine and is a serious power broker in boxing. Dana and Turki both have an interest in undermining the major sanctioning bodies as they have the ability to crown champions and want to challenge the legitimacy of these sanctioning body titles. Usyk fought on the Giza card which was promoted by Ring Magazine. I believe Dana and Turki are going to put an offer to Usyk to get him to fight in their organization in the hopes to keep the championship in house. If anyone were to defeat Usyk in their promotion it would takeaway from the sanctioning body champions who were handed belts they did not win in the ring. Of course this play relies on Usyk being defeated.

Usyk’s Last Dance?

Who is the Ukrainian champion going to fight? I think there are five fighters who stand out among the pack. Here are the fighters that I believe are in play to get the title shot and my reasoning.

1. Deontay Wilder: this fight was already proposed and discussed with Los Angeles being the location. If Usyk wants to have a major US fight, this would be the move. Wilder snapped his losing streak against Derek Chisora.
2. Rico VerHoeven: the crossover fight was viewed as a joke when it was announced. The fight played out much differently as Rico over-performed and stunned many fans with his performance. I scored the bout 98-92 after ten completed rounds and was shocked when two judges had the fight 95-95. I do believe Usyk took the fight lightly; however, the rematch will generate a lot of interest and money.
3. Jai Opetaia: the cruiserweight champion is having a hard time securing the biggest fights in his division. He carries a large frame that should make the jump to heavyweight effectively. Opetaia signed a lucrative deal with Zuffa Boxing and Usyk might be their next big signing. Two undefeated champions without another big fight lined up, this makes sense.
4. Tyson Fury: the Anthony Joshua fight looks like it’s inevitable now as all roadblocks have basically been removed. Given the difficulty of putting this fight together, I will hold my breath until they get past their tune up opponents. It is also possible that they fight a third fight next year after the Joshua saga has concluded.
5. Efe Ajagba: Zuffa has Ajagba and Ajagba has fought in Saudi Arabia. This fight is possible if Usyk goes to Zuffa Boxing. This would not be a viewed as a big fight but it is an appropriate bow out fight if Usyk is looking for a win in a fight that should not be too risky. Think of it like Mayweather vs Berto