Why Usyk will be stripped of title despite win over Fury

Despite his victory over Tyson Fury in Riyadh on Saturday, Oleksandr Usyk won’t be able to hold on to all of his world title belts.

Usyk claimed victory over his British opponent by split decision, with two judges scoring the bout 115-112 and 114-113 in his favour and the other going 114-113 in favour of Fury. The Ukrainian got emotional after the fight when speaking after his victory about how much he misses his late father.

The win means Usyk remains unbeaten throughout his professional boxing career. His record now stands at 22 fights and 22 wins, with 14 of the 22 coming via knockout.

In beating Fury, he added the WBC heavyweight title to add to his other belts and become the undisputed champ. However, he’s set to have to give up his IBF title before he next steps into the ring.

Fury is expected to get a chance for revenge in an autumn rematch. “We’ll go back, have a rest up then get back to it in October,” he said after his defeat. “As I said, I believe I won the fight.”

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“I don’t think about boxing now, please,” Usyk said after the Fury bout when asked about a rematch. “My camp started in September 2023, I worked for nine months. Yes of course, rematch I am ready. Listen, we have more time to do a good fight,”

While Fury and Usyk will take a few months to recharge, one man less willing to wait is Filip Hrgovic. The Croatian is the IBF’s mandatory title challenger, and Usyk’s belt is expected to be vacated in time for Hrgovic to battle Daniel Dubois for the honours in early June.

The winner of Hrgovic vs Dubois is expected to then meet Anthony Joshua in September, with Usyk and Fury to do battle the following month. There is no word yet on whether the winner of that rematch would subsequently attempt to reclaim the IBF belt.

“He’s [Usyk] done something no one else has done,” promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports. “He’s unified the four belts. Four belts on the line is the start. I’m quite sure they’ll fragment after that. And then it’ll happen again.

“We’re in such a good place as a sport and they’re such good things happening you just can’t see it ending, because there’s so many good fights to be made,” he added, while indicating Joshua can remain in the mix providing he keeps winning. “Hrgovic and [Dubois] is a great fight and the winner of that, I think everybody’s going to be happy with who the winner fights,” Warren continued.

Hrgovic, who turns 32 in June, boasts a 17-0 career record with 14 knockouts. His last victory came by first round TKO against Mark de Mori, on the undercard of Joshua’s December victory over Otto Wallin.

Why Usyk will be stripped of title despite win over Fury