The Ukrainian boxer said that he is vacating the belts, but he will not leave the sport.
Photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk has relinquished his International Boxing Federation (IBF), World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight titles. The 39-year-old boxer said about it on the social network informed.
“I want to vacate all the belts that I own now so that the next contenders can fight for them. I’m loosening the belts, but I’m not leaving the sport. “I still have the last dance,” said Usik.
In his last fight, Usyk defended his WBC title by technical knockout of Dutch kickboxer Rick Verhoeven in the 11th round on May 23 in the Giza complex.
Usyk has won all 25 fights in the professional ring. He was a two-time super heavyweight champion and once the first heavyweight champion.
Relinquishing championship belts, while not an everyday occurrence in professional sports, is a normal occurrence. This usually does not mean that the athlete has finished his career. Sometimes boxers voluntarily vacate their titles to move up to a different weight class, to pursue more lucrative fights, or to avoid mandatory defenses that prevent major fights from being organized.
