How Oleksandr Usyk’s Reign as Undisputed Champion Compares to the History of the Title

For the better part of a decade, heavyweight boxing fans have been clamoring for what seemed to be an obvious and easy fight to be made for the first four-belt undisputed heavyweight title. It began bubbling up once Anthony Joshua got his hands on three of the four, with Deontay Wilder holding the WBC.
For years, though, the WBC allowed Wilder to dodge any legitimate challenger and evade the attempts of Joshua’s camp to make the biggest heavyweight bout in decades. His luck ran out when he decided to face Tyson Fury, who’d only just returned to the scene having dealt with extreme weight and mental health issues.

Fury would take Wilder’s belt in three convincing displays, but in that time, Joshua lost his collection to Oleksandr Usyk and, while improved, failed to get them back in the rematch. Finally, Usyk would fight Fury in May 2024, with the Ukrainian out-boxing the towering Brit to take the first four-belt championship.

Usyk’s reign didn’t quite go as expected, though.

Just 39 Days With Four Belts

Oleksandr Usyk held the long-craved undisputed world heavyweight title for a grand total of 39 days from May 18 to June 25, 2024. The fight itself certainly lived up to the hype, with Fury seemingly a zombie for a few of the later rounds, only boxing on instinct, but Usyk’s reign certainly went out with a whimper.

This comes down to the champion deciding to approve Fury’s call for a rematch rather than fight the IBF mandatory challenger, Daniel Dubois. He took the tougher and more gentlemanly bout rather than an easier defense on paper, but this saw one of the four get stripped from Usyk.

Now, to restart his reign and maybe even get a defense on the record of the ultimate title in boxing, he has to defeat Tyson Fury and then Daniel Dubois – who won the stripped IBF belt by beating Anthony Joshua earlier this year. However, given his displays in the heavyweight division so far, many are backing Usyk.

The best place to see this support is in the odds of the leading bookmakers. You can use this handy list to locate any and all online sportsbooks worthy of a deposit, and it’s on the best of these that you’ll find Usyk at -150 to win the rematch with Fury. There are also odds of +1600 for a draw, while Fury’s at +162.5 to win.

Usyk Isn’t The Exception

There have been 13 undisputed world heavyweight champions since the inauguration of the WBC and the opening of the WBA and WBC two-belt era. Starting in 1963, this started with Sonny Liston claiming the crown and losing it in his first defense to Muhammad Ali. Ali lost the WBA for deciding to rematch Liston.

So, the undisputed crown began with two kings who didn’t put up a single defense. In the two-belt era, Muhammad Ali would defend the undisputed title when he won it back in 1967, but would be stripped of it for refusing to be drafted to military service.

Joe Frazier picked up the slack by claiming the two belts and defending them four times. George Foreman took them from Frazier and defended twice, but then Ali got them back to go on a ten-fight defense streak, only ended by Leon Spinks. Again, Spinks would vacate the WBC to rematch Ali.

From 1978 to 1987, there wasn’t an undisputed champ, with the IBF being recognised as a major title in 1983. Mike Tyson was the first three-belt undisputed king, defending it six times. Later, Buster Douglas, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, and Lennox Lewis would become undisputed, but only Holyfield defended the title (three times).

As such, Usyk’s run as the undisputed champion without putting up a defense isn’t uncommon at all. Seven of the 13 reigns ended with either an unsuccessful defense or via a vacated belt. Bowe’s zero-defense reign ended when he threw out the WBC strap, thus vacating it.

Still, Usyk could become the first heavyweight to become a two-time undisputed champion since Muhammad Ali and only the second since the WBA-WBC era. He’s just got to get past Fury and Dubois again to do so.