Joshua, Itauma, Ajagba get title chance as Usyk vacates belts

The heavyweight boxing division has been thrown wide open following Oleksandr Usyk’s stunning announcement on Friday that he is vacating his WBA, WBC and IBF world heavyweight titles, creating a cascade of championship opportunities that place three Nigerians, Moses Itauma and Efe Ajagba, as well as former two-time world champion Anthony Joshua, firmly in contention for boxing’s most coveted prizes.

Usyk, who holds a professional record of 25 wins and 16 knockouts, made the announcement in a video posted on social media, saying, “Today is Friday, the weather is beautiful, and it is a good day to say that I want to vacate all the belts I currently hold. I want to make them available so the guys who are next in line can fight for them. Friends, I am leaving the belts but I am not leaving the sport, because I still have my last dance.”

The decision brought to an end one of the most dominant championship reigns of the four-belt era. Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era and reclaimed that distinction after beating Anthony Joshua twice, Tyson Fury twice, Daniel Dubois twice and Derek Chisora across a heavyweight career of unparalleled quality.

His sporting director, Sergey Lapin, confirmed that the decision was made with the wider division in mind and that Usyk’s final fight is expected to take place in the United States.

The immediate beneficiaries of the announcement are spread across three sanctioning bodies, each of which will now chart its own course toward crowning a new champion.

The WBC picture appears the clearest, with interim champion Agit Kabayel expected to be elevated to full world champion. The race to become his mandatory challenger is less straightforward, with Tyson Fury and Joshua contracted to face each other, while the August clash between Itauma and Filip Hrgovic on August 29 at the O2 Arena in London looms as one of the most significant contests in the division, with the winner potentially earning a direct shot at Kabayel if the WBC designates it as a final eliminator.

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At the WBA, Itauma is currently the organisation’s number one ranked contender. Filling out the numbers two through five slots are Jarrell Miller, Tyson Fury, Joshua and Nelson Hysa, while Efe Ajagba sits in the number nine position. One route under consideration at the WBA is to wait for the anticipated Fury versus Joshua fight, which could be sanctioned for a vacant super world title.

At the IBF, Frank Sanchez earned the mandatory position by defeating Richard Torrez Jr in a final eliminator on the Usyk versus Verhoeven undercard in May. Itauma and Hrgovic are ranked third and fourth respectively, and their August fight could serve as an eliminator to set up the winner against Sanchez. Ajagba also features in the IBF’s extended top 15.

For Itauma, the 21-year-old British-Nigerian sensation, Usyk’s decision has accelerated a journey that was already moving at a remarkable pace. The youngster, who is promoted by Frank Warren, has won all 13 of his professional contests, with 11 coming by knockout and nine inside the first two rounds. He demolished former world title challenger Dillian Whyte in one round in August 2025 to claim the Commonwealth heavyweight title and is currently ranked as the WBO’s number one contender behind interim titleholder Joseph Parker, while also featuring prominently in the rankings of multiple other bodies.

For Ajagba, Usyk’s exit from the championship picture represents the culmination of years of patient rebuilding. The 31-year-old Delta State-born fighter, who represented Nigeria at the 2016 Rio Olympics and compiled a record of 20 wins, one loss and one draw with 14 knockouts, suffered a significant setback when a purse dispute cost him his IBF ranking and a six-month ban from IBF-sanctioned contests. He has since rebuilt his career steadily, cracking The Ring magazine’s heavyweight top 10 in September 2025, making him the only Nigerian currently ranked among the division’s elite.

Joshua, meanwhile, continues his own rebuilding process following his loss to Daniel Dubois and has been explicitly open to a future clash with Itauma for a world title. Fury, who returned to the ring in April to outpoint Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and reclaimed his WBC number one ranking, is targeting one more warm-up fight before meeting Joshua at the back end of the year in a bout that could itself be elevated to world title status by one or more of the sanctioning bodies.

Usyk leaves the heavyweight division unbeaten and widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters of his era. The division now moves on without the man who set the standard, leaving the leading contenders to fight over the belts he leaves behind.