When Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury first clashed six months ago it was for all the marbles. Fury held the WBC crown. Oleksandr Usyk owned the WBO, WBA and IBF titles.
The Ring magazine heavyweight title was also up for grabs. As was the more intangible lineal title. Which belonged to Fury, who defeated the great Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 and hadn’t lost a fight since.
Usyk, of course, won it all. But then the politics started.
With Usyk contracted to an immediate rematch with Fury, he was unable to defend his IBF crown against Britain’s Daniel Dubois, who became the organization’s interim champion and mandatory challenger after an impressive victory over Filip Hrgovic. Dubois went on to fight Anthony Joshua, stopping his compatriot to defend his title.
That leaves Usyk holding the WBA, WBO and WBC heavyweight belts (as well as The Ring Magazine and lineal titles) which will all be up for grabs later today.
