Heavyweight belts should stay unified
IT took pro boxing 25 years to finally produce an undisputed heavyweight champion. Unfortunately for boxing fans, the crown is on the verge of being chopped into pieces again.
Last May 18, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk defeated England’s Tyson Fury to unify all four major belts in the heavyweight division: World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).
Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Nov. 13, 1999, when Briton Lennox Lewis defeated American Evander Holyfield for the combined WBA, WBC and IBF titles. Back then, these were the three generally recognized belts in the sport.
As can be deduced, Usyk’s undisputed coronation is far more special as he became the first boxer to simultaneously hold all four major belts in the heavyweight class.
Usyk’s stay on the undisputed throne may be brief, though, and you can squarely place the blame on boxing politics.
Before the Usyk-Fury fight, the IBF made it clear that the winner must face its No.1 contender Filip Hrgovic of Croatia or risk being stripped of the IBF title.
Hrgovic (17-0, 14 knockouts) defeated China’s Zhilei Zhang in August 2022 to earn the No.1 contender status in the IBF division. Hrgovic has been waiting for almost two years now to get a shot at Usyk who has held the IBF crown since 2021.
Hrgovic was forced to take the backseat as demands for a Usyk-Fury fight for the undisputed crown skyrocketed. With Usyk finally defeating Fury, Hrgovic should be next in line.
Lo and behold, Fury, however, recently announced that he wants another shot at Usyk. There is a rematch clause in the contract for the first fight and Fury (34-1, 1 draw, 24 knockouts) is leaning on invoking said clause.
Fury, of course, is known to change his mind. For now, though, Fury wants to fight Usyk again and avenge his only loss.
The Usyk-Fury rematch is tentatively set to take place on December 21.
The Usyk-Fury rematch will bring a lot of money to the table given the exciting first fight. In a 12-round thriller, Usyk won via a close split decision.
Usyk nearly stopped Fury in the ninth stanza with a huge left hand. Not a few thought the referee saved Fury from being knocked out.
Boxing fans are hankering for a rematch, but the IBF is looking to play the role of party-pooper.
The IBF is mulling on declaring its heavyweight throne vacant and ordering a fight between Hrgovic and Briton Daniel Dubois for the IBF title this coming June.
The winner of the Hrgovic and Dubois fight will then be obligated to defend against former champion Anthony Joshua. This means the Usyk-Fury encore will not be for the undisputed crown anymore. Talk about the IBF being a total killjoy.
Then again, there are reportedly lastminute moves to convince the head honchos of the IBF keep the crown on Usyk’s head.
A few days after beating Fury, Usyk’s camp filed an exception to avoid being stripped of the IBF title. Simply put, Usyk is asking the IBF to delay his overdue mandatory title defense against Hrgovic.
The ball is now in the IBF’s hands. The IBF is getting a lot of heat from the fans who clearly want the titles in boxing’s most prestigious division to remain unified.
As of this writing, there are loose whispers that the IBF is mulling on granting Usyk’s request. Obviously, the IBF does not want to be blamed for chopping up the heavyweight throne.
Eddie Hearn, the promoter of Joshua, recently implied in an interview that the IBF allowing Usyk to keep its belt for the rematch with Fury is a done deal.
According to Hearn, the IBF is leaning on accepting the argument that nobody wants to see the heavyweight belt fragmented.
From where this writer sits, the IBF should allow Usyk to keep the title.
Perhaps an arrangement can be made to appease Hrgovic.
Pro boxing is better off with only one champion per division. There are so many champions in boxing today (imagine four champions per weight class), to the point that nobody really knows who is the real champion anymore.
The sport is more “identifiable” and clearly more marketable if there is only one champion for every weight class. Usyk knows this, the reason why he is trying to convince the IBF to allow him to keep its title.
Usyk and Fury know that “undisputed” has a nice ring to it and is a great marketing tool to sell the rematch. It is way cooler to see two boxers fighting for an undisputed crown and not just one of the four versions of the title.