Usyk Loses Undisputed Status After vacating the IBF Belt, Dubois retains the Title
Oleksandr Usyk received his last of the “big four” belts and absolute world champion status thanks to the fight with Fury and the victory over him. Then his agreement for the rematch cost him the IBF belt and absolute status. What happened with the vacated belt then? Read below 👇
Usyk vacated the IBF belt
The Ukrainian, who beat Tyson Fury in May 2024, became the first heavyweight fighter to hold all four belts – IBF, WBO, WBA and WBC – at the same time. But after five weeks of absolute dominance, he had to give up one belt. One month after the victory, Usyk said he refused to accept the mandatory fight against Daniel Dubois to defend the belt.
Since Usyk has been obligated to hold a second fight with Fury, he is no longer in a position where he can defend the IBF title. Back then, the rematch was initially planned for October, which would not have given the Ukrainian enough time between the two matches to properly prepare for the fight. Later, the re-fight date was rescheduled for December 21.
Losing the belt was quite easy for the Ukrainian fighter. According to Usyk, he has reached his goal, proved that he is capable of becoming an absolute heavyweight champ and does not see the point in maintaining this status at any price. He blessed Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua for the fight for the IBF belt, saying “Anthony and Daniel, listen. I know the IBF title is important to you. It is my present to you in September.”
The actual fight for the IBF heavyweight title
Daniel Dubois faced Anthony Joshua for the IBF belt on 21 September 2024 at Wembley Stadium. That day, AJ suffered the most resounding defeat of his professional career against his opponent. He was in great shape after the latest run of four high-profile victories. On Saturday night, he aimed to win the heavyweight championship for the third time.
Technical and consistent, Joshua was the betting favourite and fought to the last, even taking a series of crushing blows. But Dubois won by knockdown in the fifth round and retained the IBF Champion title.
Wembley Stadium in London, where Joshua had won his biggest victory by beating Wladimir Klitschko back in 2017, was now the place of his worst defeat. Among other boxing stars, Tyson Fury as well as Oleksandr Usyk were there watching the potential opponent.
The winner of this bout would have to fight the winner of the Usik-Fury rematch. Whatever happens next, 2025 will be an eventful year!
IBF comments
Usyk requested that his IBF belt be left intact so that the undisputed title could remain on the table when he faces Fury again later in 2024. According to IBF rules, though, he had to be stripped of his title if he didn’t fight the mandatory opponent.
Meanwhile, Daniel Dubois had been occurred the interim champion and mandatory IBF challenger. This set the stage for Dubois to fight Anthony Joshua for the title.
