Oleksandr Usyk’s alternate reason for vacating heavyweight titles emerges

Oleksandr Usyk wants to free up the belts with his training partner Anthony Joshua eyeing a new pursuit at world glory.

Usyk decided not to accept a fight with his WBC mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel, and vacated all of his heavyweight world titles.

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The unified world champion had indicated he’d be open to fighting the unbeaten German, but after a draw with Rico Verhoeven, has now altered his plans.

He is now ready for one final bow at heavyweight, which could come against Deontay Wilder, whom he is open to facing in the US.

His decision to abandon his titles came as a surprise to many in the boxing world, given some of the clashes in the pipeline.

But at 39-years-old, Usyk’s manager Sergey Lapin believes the Ukrainian has earned his right to not have his future dictated by the belts.

He explained: “He made the conscious decision to vacate his championship belts in order to bring new life to the heavyweight division.

“It gives new champions the opportunity to prove themselves, and help move the sport forward.

“Now he wants to decide for himself what the final chapter of his career will look like, rather than allowing circumstances or mandatory title defences to make that decision for him.”

It will be an interesting time for the heavyweight division with Agit Kabayel immediately benefiting after Usyk’s decision.

He was crowned the WBC champion and now holds a world title alongside Daniel Dubois who captured the WBO belt in May.

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Moses Itauma, Frank Sanchez and Murat Gassiev will hope to position themselves to earn the titles in the coming weeks.

Usyk wants Joshua to win title

And an ulterior motive for ‘The Cat’ to have vacated his belts will be to help friend and former rival Joshua become champion.

The pair have been training together in recent months, with AJ to make his comeback in July.

Despite having signed for a showdown with Tyson Fury, Joshua has stated his ultimate goal is to become a three-time world champion.

And the Ukrainian believes Joshua can return to the pinnacle of the sport.

He said: “I don’t think Anthony will become undisputed. I know Anthony will become undisputed.

“He’s not my rival, not my opponent, he’s my partner, my brother.

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“Because I know this is (a) machine. Now, he must work. He must change. 

“But I believe it’s possible.”