THE 'REAL REASON' OLEKSANDR USYK VACATED HIS WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLES REVEALED

Ukrainian superstar Oleksandr Usyk shocked the boxing world on Friday afternoon when he announced that he would be vacating all of his world heavyweight championships with immediate effect.

The undefeated 39-year-old, who held the WBA 'super', WBC and IBF belts, took to social media to inform fans of his decision. Usyk was most recently seen in the ring last month, when he defeated Dutch kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven in controversial fashion.

Explaining why he had decided to give up his gold, Usyk spoke of his desire to give opportunities to other fighters in the division. He also confirmed that he would have at least one more fight, referring to the next stage of his career as "my last dance".

"I want to vacate all the belts that I currently hold to make them available for the guys next in line to fight for them," he stated. "Friends, I'm leaving the belts, but not the sport because I still have my last dance."

The Motivation Behind Usyk's Decision to Ditch His Gold Has Been Explained

While Usyk's intentions may appear noble, Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn, who has promoted several of the legendary fighter's bouts, has shared the 'real reason' behind the decision.

In an interview with Seconds Out in the wake of the announcement, Hearn suggested that Usyk parting company with his gold was motivated by his desire to have more control over his own schedule.

Breaking down the demands on Usyk as a unified champion, Hearn stated:

"When you're the unified champion and you haven't faced one mandatory [challenger], it's a little bit easier to vacate all the belts than to answer the questions. He [Usyk] is probably in a position where he is like: 'I've done so much in the sport, I don't want to be told who I've got to fight! I want to fight when I want to fight!'"

Usyk's surprising announcement comes just days before a deadline by which he needed to agree a deal to fight the WBC's top-ranked contender, Agit Kabayel. As a result, that fight is now almost certain never to happen, with the unbeaten German likely to be promoted to full champion by the governing body shortly.

Oleksandr Usyk Wins His Final Fight 'Comfortably'

Hearn then went on to reveal the fight that he would advise Usyk to take in what will seemingly be his farewell bout.

"If he's gonna rematch Rico [Verhoeven], which if I was managing Usyk, I would be telling him to do, that's his last fight anyway.

"Why would he fight Kabayel and defend the titles? It's a very tough fight. I think financially you can make more money fighting Rico. There's a bit of controversy there. A few unanswered questions.

"I think he wins very comfortably in the second fight. They could do something special in Amsterdam, which would be iconic. He's done, isn't he? This is him saying: 'One more and thank you boxing'."

Usyk has yet to make any announcement regarding who he may face in his final bout, but it's easy to see why settling the score with Rico may appeal to him before he finally calls time on his legendary career.

- Nick Sutherland

OLEKSANDR USYK BEATS RICO VERHOEVEN THANKS TO CONTROVERSIAL REFEREE STOPPAGE

The referee did not think Verhoeven was saved by the bell.

The referee steps in to stop the Oleksandr Usyk-Rico Verhoeven fight in Egypt. | Photo by Mohamed Hossam/Getty Images

Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven faced off on Saturday in Egypt in front of the pyramids of Giza. Usyk, the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight champion, took on Verhoeven, a kickboxer by trade, in a match that was pure spectacle and the result confirmed it.

While Verhoeven was only taking part in his second career boxing match against Usyk, who came into the bout a perfect 24-0 in his career, the result was very much up in the air as the fighters headed into the later rounds. Or at least that's why many people had observed before a controversial stoppage ended the fight after 11 rounds. And then the scorecards only raised more questions.

First, let's take a look at the final moments of the fight when referee Mark Lyson waved off the fight after the bell. As you can see, Usyk was hitting Verhoeven as the bell rang and kept going and that's when the referee stepped in. The official result goes down as a TKO with one second left in the 11th round.

pic.twitter.com/qMmm6K0gp5

— Combat Casuals (@Clips4Casuals) May 23, 2026

What made the stoppage look even worse was the fact that Verhoeven was very much in the fight on the official scorecards. Two judges had the fight even and Verhoeven was up on the third card. Usyk was approximately three minutes away taking the first blemish on his boxing record by way of a decision loss or maybe a draw.

Here are the scorecards for Usyk x Rico after 10 rounds.

Two judges had it even, one had Rico up a round. pic.twitter.com/1bJFlFFaBT

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 23, 2026

Who knows what would have happened if the referee hadn't stepped in.

Verhoeven came into this fight with one boxing match on his résumé which took place back in 2014. The silver lining for Verhoeven here, besides holding his own against the heavyweight champion, is that he couldn't have won any of Usyk's belts anyway. So now he's 66-10 as a kickboxing champion and he's made a name for himself as a boxer.

Francis Ngannou Reacts

Francis Ngannou, who is coming off a first round knock out victory on last weekend's Ronda Rousey-Gina Carano card, commiserated with Verhoeven on social media saying, "Outsiders will never win, trust me I know, but Rico was the winner tonight. Period."

Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, had boxing matches against Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury over the last few years. While he was knocked out by Joshua, he went the distance with Fury, who was the WBC champion at the time and lost by split decision. After beating Ngannou, Fury went on to lose back-to-back fights to Usyk. Those were the first and second losses of Fury's career.

Usyk and Verhoeven Ring Walk

While the fight had a controversial finish, that shouldn't take away from how cool a scene it was in Egypt on Saturday in front of one of the Seven Wonders of the World. They made sure to use the pyramids in their ring walks and it was undeinably awesome-looking

.A number of boxers including Canelo Álvarez, Terrence Crawford, Anthony Joshua, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney were all in attendance for the fight. As was Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. You really might see a celebrity anywhere this weekend.

- Stephen Douglas

USYK CEMENTS LEGACY AS BEST HEAVYWEIGHT OF HIS GENERATION

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- With 24 rounds between them and no need for a third bout following another Oleksandr Usyk victory -- this time more clearly than the first bout -- Tyson Fury leaned over and kissed his rival on the head as the heavyweight champion celebrated.

The show of respect isn't surprising after just how grueling these two fights were. With so much at stake -- Fury's quest to regain his titles as a three-time champion and Usyk's push to turn him back again -- it was Usyk who pulled away down the stretch on Saturday night.

Their May meeting, the front-runner for ESPN's Fight of the Year, established Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) as the world's best heavyweight and No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the ESPN rankings. The rematch meant even more. In addition to reinforcing that dual status, a second, more definitive victory cemented Usyk as the best heavyweight of his generation, the greatest fighter in boxing's glamour division since Lennox Lewis retired in 2004, and an all-time great.

When Usyk won gold at the amateur European Championships in 2008, he was a light heavyweight while his Ukrainian countryman, Wladimir Klitschko, reigned as heavyweight champion in the pros. Four years later, Usyk captured gold at the Olympic Games in London as a heavyweight while Anthony Joshua won a gold medal at super heavyweight. Years after that, as a pro, Usyk cleaned out the cruiserweight division as undisputed champion and defeated Joshua twice at heavyweight to become unified champion.

The May split-decision victory over Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) earned Usyk, 37, the undisputed championship at heavyweight, too. And in that fight, he came close to stopping Fury in Round 9 when he landed 14 unanswered punches and delivered Fury's eighth trip to the canvas of his career.

Seven months later, there was no seminal moment with either fighter in serious trouble. And while the bout was entertaining, it wasn't nearly as thrilling as the first meeting. Despite no knockdowns scored, Usyk's victory was never in doubt this time, winning via unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112, 116-112).

"I very respect this guy because I think he's very tough," Usyk told ESPN. "... Tyson Fury makes me strong. Tyson is a great opponent. Big man. He's a good man. Tyson, a lot of talk but it's just show."

Fury was adamant that he deserved the nod. When asked if he felt Usyk's spirit in the bout, Fury responded, "Yeah, Christmas spirit, he received a Christmas gift."

Usyk conceded this fight was easier than the first time.

Oleksandr Usyk, above, retained his WBC, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles with another decision victory over Tyson Fury on Saturday. Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

Fury, 36, boxed well, particularly when he switched stances and fired a southpaw jab followed by punishing left hands. But like the first fight, he faded down the stretch. He lost Rounds 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 on all three scorecards.

"When you don't get the knockout, this is what can happen," Fury said. "... I did the best I could. If I could have done more, I would have done it, and that's it."

Usyk left no doubt he was the better fighter, even if many rounds were very close. A third bout isn't necessary. Two future Hall of Famers met over 24 rounds and Usyk proved that he was the better man despite a 50-plus-pound disadvantage and giving up nearly six inches in height.

Usyk will fight on, of course. There are tens of millions to be made as his star continues to grow and he brings more attention (and pride) to war-torn Ukraine. Daniel Dubois, whom Usyk KO'd in nine rounds in August 2023 in Poland, interrupted Usyk's postfight interview to call for a rematch.

"I want my revenge," said Dubois, who picked up the IBF title Usyk was stripped of in June with a fifth-round KO of Joshua in September.

Usyk quickly responded that he was ready for a rematch, but that fight won't approach the marquee stage he enjoyed this year with two wins over Fury, one of the sport's top stars. The first Dubois bout wasn't remotely competitive, and Usyk scored the KO with a jab.

England's Dubois has enjoyed an impressive run since with three consecutive wins inside the distance (TKO victories over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic before the upset of Joshua).

Dubois, however, must push past a tough test against former titleholder Joseph Parker on Feb. 22 in Riyadh. With Joshua and Fury out of the way for good, there's no megafight on the horizon for Usyk.

Fury, meanwhile, could face Joshua in the loser's bracket in a fight that will still be highly anticipated for their combined star power, especially in the U.K. And no matter where Fury goes from here, he'll go down as an all-time great.

But he'll always rank behind Usyk.

- Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider

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