Oleksandr Usyk vacates WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Fighter | Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine) |
| Date | June 26, 2026 |
| Belts vacated | WBA, WBC, IBF |
| WBO | Vacated earlier, November 2025 |
| Last fight | TKO 11 vs. Rico Verhoeven, Giza, May 23, 2026 |
| Status | Not retired |
Oleksandr Usyk has given up the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles. Announcing the move on June 26, 2026, the Ukrainian said he was leaving the belts but not the sport, keeping the door open for a final run of fights.
Usyk had already vacated the WBO title in November 2025. The decision came a month after his disputed win over former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven in Giza, Egypt.
Usyk's championship career
| Date | Result | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 2018 | Beats Murat Gassiev | Undisputed cruiserweight |
| Sep 2021 | Beats Anthony Joshua | WBA, IBF, WBO heavyweight |
| May 2024 | Beats Tyson Fury | Undisputed heavyweight (first of the four-belt era) |
| Jul 2025 | KO 5 vs. Daniel Dubois | Undisputed heavyweight again |
| Nov 2025 | Vacates WBO | — |
| Jun 26, 2026 | Vacates WBA, WBC, IBF | — |
Our take
Usyk leaves the belts as the best heavyweight of his era: undisputed at cruiserweight and twice at heavyweight, unbeaten as a professional. Vacating is a pragmatic decision — the sanctioning bodies’ mandatory orders would have forced fights he did not want at this stage of his career.
His legacy is secure. The question is what the ‘final run’ looks like. The Verhoeven fight suggested an appetite for unusual, high-paying events rather than mandatory defenses; we would not be surprised by a crossover or legacy fight in 2027.
The division has moved quickly since: Kabayel was elevated by the WBC the next day, Dubois holds the WBO and Hrgovic won the IBF in August.
See the four belts’ current holders on our undisputed championship tracker.
Why champions vacate
Each sanctioning body requires its champion to defend against a mandatory challenger within a set period. Holding all four belts means facing four sets of orders, and the bigger the fights a champion can make, the less appealing a mandatory defense becomes. Vacating lets a champion choose his own opponents — at the cost of the belts.
| Body | Before June 26, 2026 | After |
|---|---|---|
| WBA | Usyk | Vacant; plans unclear |
| WBC | Usyk | Agit Kabayel (elevated Jun 27) |
| IBF | Usyk | Vacant until Filip Hrgovic beat Moses Itauma, Aug 29 |
| WBO | Vacated Nov 2025 | Fabio Wardley, then Daniel Dubois (May 9) |
Usyk's place in history
Usyk is the first man in the four-belt era to be undisputed at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, and the first undisputed heavyweight since the WBO became a major title. He beat Anthony Joshua twice, Tyson Fury twice and Daniel Dubois twice. Few heavyweights in history can match that run against elite opposition.