Oleksandr Usyk Vacates IBF Title, Now At Risk for Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua Clash on the 21st
The reign of the first heavyweight champion of the 21st century did not last one month.
Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 knockouts) has officially vacated his IBF title in a decision he made public on Tuesday. The undefeated, two-division and undefeated champion vacated the belt for just one month—almost until today—filing a disqualification from the IBF to avoid being stripped of the title.
Usyk asked for an extension in hopes of securing all the heavyweight hardware in his contractual match with Tyson Fury. The two are expected to meet in a rematch on December 21. Usyk defeated Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) via a 12-round unanimous decision.
With the announcement, Daniel Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) will be promoted to the full title roster from his interim title position.
The timing was far from automatic.
It came on the eve of a big press conference scheduled for Wednesday in London to announce the September 21 Riyadh Season show at Wembley Stadium. Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry Promotions did not release details about the event. However, the worst kept secret was its title. Dubois will face two-time United heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs), No. 2 at heavyweight.
Wednesday's announcement will now be accompanied by a growing number of major events.
“Anthony and Daniel, listen: I know the IBF title [is] it's important to you,” Usyk said in a video posted on his social media channel. “Call my gift to you on September 21.”
Interestingly, the matchup is between two heavyweights that Usyk lost just before making the full division.
He knocked out Dubois in the ninth round of his title defense on Aug. 26 united heavyweight in Wroclaw, Poland. The win came after Usyk pinned Joshua twice. He won the WBA, IBF and WBO titles in September. 2021 with a points victory over the hulking Brit, then added The Ring championship in a rematch on Aug. 2022.
Usyk then defeated Fury to become the two-division, undefeated champion. He previously held all the weights at cruiserweight before usurping the throne in 2019.
Dubois earned an interim version of the IBF belt with an eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic on June 1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Croatia's Hrgovic (17-1, 14 KOs) was the challenger at the time and prepared for Syk to be stripped of the title. Dubois ignited those programs with an upset win, as he continued to breathe new life into his up-and-down career.
This comes less than six months after Dubois 'dead' Jarrell Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs) via tenth round stoppage last Dec. 23 at Kingdom Arena. This same event saw Joshua get a fifth round stoppage of Otto Wallin.
Joshua then defeated former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in the second round on March 8 at the same venue. The win was the fourth in a row, all in a span of 49 weeks.
Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) is still the RING division champion and still holds the WBA, WBC and WBO titles. The undefeated Ukrainian entered his full title fight on May 18 against Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) knowing that his IBF reign could be on the line, even if he wins.
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