USYK MAKES WAY FOR THE NEXT CROP OF HEAVYWEIGHT SUPERSTARS

After a cryptic post was shared on social media last week by Oleksandr Usyk’s manager, Sergey Lapin, the boxing world was left guessing about the news that was to come. Would Usyk be fighting his WBC mandatory challenger, Agit Kabayel? Would he be rematching Rico Verhoeven? Could he even be retiring?

Then, on Friday, we got the news. The two-weight undisputed world champion announced that he would be vacating his WBC, IBF and WBA world titles but would not be retiring just yet and would instead have "one last dance", in his own words.

Off the back of the news, many in the boxing world were quick to credit Usyk. Instead of holding up the division with all of the world titles while taking gimmie fights, he's let them go and allowed the new crop of heavyweights to battle it out, hopefully one day replicating the Ukrainian's achievements in the division.

The WBC moved quickly to elevate interim champion Agit Kabayel to full champion, so as of today, that has left us with two vacant titles in the IBF and WBA.

We've taken an in-depth look at the rankings across all four sanctioning bodies, along with The Ring Magazine's rankings, and picked out some of the big fights that could take place over the next 12–18 months for world honours.

IBF - Vacant

First off, we'll take a look at the IBF. Ranked No.1 is Cuban Frank Sanchez, who is fresh off the back of a career-best stoppage victory over Richard Torrez Jr.

You would think, because of his high ranking, he'll definitely be the one to fight for the vacant title first, but ranked No.3 and No.4 are Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgović, who are already confirmed to fight each other at the end of August.

This could mean that the vacant title could be up for grabs in that fight, with the winner then being forced to face Sanchez in their first defence.

HOWEVER, the IBF has ordered talks for Sanchez to fight Itauma for the vacant title with talks to begin immediately and be concluded by July 29th. This is despite Itauma’s fight with Hrgovic being scheduled for the end of August so could we see a dramatic turn of events which sees Hrgovic step aside to let Itauma fight Sanchez for the vacant title with the winner then having to fight Hrgovic before the end of the year? That’s the way it looks at the moment.

If it is Sanchez against a different opponent for the title, it'll more than likely be someone like two-time Olympic gold medallist Bakhodir Jalolov or maybe even former cruiserweight world title challenger Richard Riakporhe.

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury both feature in the IBF's top 10, but with their fight set for November, it's highly unlikely the belt will still be vacant by then.

WBA - Vacant

Onto the WBA now, and it's another interesting one.

At the moment, Murat Gassiev is the 'regular' champion and he takes on the No.14-ranked Tony Yoka on 11 July.

The simple and most straightforward thing to do would be to make that fight for the full title but, as we know, boxing politics is never simple or straightforward.

If the full title is up for grabs in that fight, don't be surprised to see the winner face No.2-ranked Jarrell Miller before the end of the year in what would be an intriguing contest, to say the least, regardless of who is victorious on 11 July.

Again, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua both find themselves ranked relatively high in the organisation, with Fury at No.3 and Joshua at No.4. However, like the IBF, it's highly unlikely that the WBA title will still be vacant by the time the pair fight.

WBC - Agit Kabayel

As previously mentioned, following the news that Usyk was vacating all of his world titles, the WBC quickly elevated their undefeated interim champion, Agit Kabayel, to full champion.

The obvious fight to make would be Kabayel vs Tyson Fury, who is ranked No.1. With Fury fighting AJ later this year, that fight obviously doesn't look like it'll happen next. However, if the Joshua fight falls through, and considering Kabayel is promoted by Goldstar and Queensberry like Fury, it would certainly be a straightforward fight to make.

If Fury vs Joshua does go ahead, then expect Kabayel to look further down the rankings for his first defence.

One name that stands out in the rankings and would certainly sell well is Martin Bakole.

After taking a fight against Joseph Parker on 48 hours' notice and getting stopped, Bakole then battled to a draw against Nigeria's Efe Ajagba.

He's had over a year out of the ring to recover from those performances and, if he returns fresh and back in shape, he'd prove to be a solid test for Kabayel before potential clashes with the likes of Itauma, Fury, Joshua and Dubois.

WBO - Daniel Dubois

Onto the WBO now, and this is the only title that Usyk didn't have after Fabio Wardley was elevated to full champion before subsequently losing it to the man Usyk has stopped twice, Daniel Dubois, in a Fight of the Year contender earlier this year.

In the aftermath of that contest, Wardley immediately triggered his rematch clause and it's looking likely that the rematch will take place towards the end of this year. So, unless something goes wrong or one of them gets injured, that'll more than likely be the next fight for this belt.

If that fight falls through, Dubois will likely find himself looking down the rankings. Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgović are No.1 and No.2 respectively, but they're fighting each other. Anthony Joshua is No.3, although he's got Kristian Prenga and Tyson Fury to focus on.

Wardley is No.4 and then, at No.5, would be the likely opponent for Dubois if the Wardley fight fell through: Zhilei Zhang.

It would be an intriguing stylistic matchup, but Zhang hasn't fought since being stopped by Agit Kabayel in February last year, and Dubois would seemingly be too fresh and too powerful for the 43-year-old.

The Ring Magazine - Oleksandr Usyk

One grey area when Usyk announced he was vacating his titles was what would happen with The Ring belt.

Nothing has been announced regarding the status of the belt, so you'd assume he still holds it.

With his newfound bromance with Anthony Joshua, and the fact that AJ's fight with Tyson Fury could well be the biggest heavyweight fight of the 21st century, could the Ukrainian be tempted to vacate it so that it could be on the line for the winner of Fury vs Joshua?

It would be pretty special, wouldn't it?