On May 18th, 2024, a 26,000-capacity crowd at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh watched in shock as Oleksandr Usyk created history by becoming the first-ever undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. Not only that but ‘The Cat’ also inflicted the first professional loss on Tyson Fury‘s intact career to the shock of everyone.

With the victory, Usyk became one of the three male boxers to win undisputed championships in two different weight categories. However, just five months after the victory, the 22-0 boxer had to relinquish one of his belts. Later, Daniel Dubois won the relinquished IBF heavyweight championship after defeating Anthony Joshua. With the Fury vs Usyk rematch just around the corner, let’s take a look at why the 37-year-old is not an undisputed champion anymore.

Reason why Oleksandr Usyk is no longer the undisputed champion

Before the May 18th match, Usyk already had the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts. He won the WBC title in the Riyadh bout to create history. However, IBF had already mandated that Usyk should defend his IBF title against Dubois.

Rather than facing the mandatory challenger, the 22-0 decided to go for glory and fact Tyson Fury in the unification bout. Furthermore, he had to request that the IBF not strip him of the title so that he could become the undisputed champion.

While the International Boxing Federation accepted Usyk’s terms for the bout, he had to face Dubois pretty soon and defend his title. However, after a grueling battle against The Gypsy King, there was no way that Oleksandr Usyk was in any condition to have another high-profile bout.

Within a month, he vacated the title, claiming that it was his present to Dubois and Joshua. The two Brits fought at Wembley and, in a shocker, ‘The Dynamite’ emerged victorious to become the new IBF champion.

Lennox Lewis was the last undisputed heavyweight champion. That historic feat came in 1999 with only three belts. However, according to His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh, the fans won’t have to wait for another decade to see a new undisputed champion. The Saudi Royal has a plan laid out. If Oleksandr Usyk once again defeats Fury, he will face either Dubois or Joesph Parker for the undisputed belt.

However, if The Gypsy King avenges his first loss, the duo will have another match and the winner of the trilogy will face the IBF champion by the end of 2025. While the pressure is tremendous, Oleksandr Usyk knows how to deal with it. After all, not many boxers can claim to be undisputed champions in more than one category.

Oleksandr Usyk’s first run as an undisputed champion

Oleksandr Usyk started his cruiserweight title run by defeating Krzysztof Głowacki in 2016 to clinch the WBO title. He kept the title for two years and unified it with a WBC title by defeating Mairis Briedis in 2018.

Just four months later, in July 2018, Usyk faced Murat Gassiev in Russia with all four belts on the line. The Ukrainian completely outperformed Gassiev in his native land and won the Undisputed championship via a unanimous decision.

With the victory, he became the first boxer to unify the cruiserweight division during the four-belt era. Apart from him, only Terence Crawford achieved the rare feat of becoming an undisputed champion in modern boxing. ‘Bud’ unified the Light-Welterweight division in 2017 and the Welterweight division in 2023 to achieve this feat.

Becoming an undisputed champion in two divisions is a near-impossible task. Even during the three-belt era, only Evander Holyfield was able to achieve this feat by winning the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles in Cruiserweight and Heavyweight divisions.

While becoming an undisputed champion in two categories will always be rare, four boxers now have the chance to do that in the heavyweight division. Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, Daniel Dubois, and Joesph Parker will do their best to win their next bout and make history.

What are your views on Oleksandr Usyk’s undisputed run? Will we see another undisputed two-division champion in the four-belt era? Let us know your thoughts down below.