It does mean that Him vacating is a sign of surrending the title It would be one thing if he was fighting someone legit but he is choosing to fight some gimmick fight next The belts in themselves don't mean anything but what he did does
The resume heads are back at it No one is good enough in boxing and no one is worthy of a title shot Now Agit Kabayel resume isn't good enough After knocking out Arslanbek, Frank Sanchez (only loss), and Zhang (only KO loss) It's obvious Usyk wants no parts of those body shots Fans will make every excuse for their favorite fighter to duck It's pathetic
And how many of those Undefeated fighters were international level? 2. How many were contenders? 0. The Zhang win is a real achievement... But overrating the guy for some pretty mediocre wins just looks silly.
He is vacating the belts because he is 39, has nothing left to prove and doesn't want to be told who, and when to fight anymore. And why shouldn't he? He has achieved everything there is to achieve in boxing; Olympic champion, cleaned out the cruiserweight division. Cleaned out the heavyweight division by defeating multiple world champions back to back. The guy needs to be given a break. He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. People are trying to compare him to what Fury did, and it's just not comparable.
Hes vacating the belts because he wants 1 last easy fight Which is understandable just lets call it what it is
The bigger underlying reason was the Rico fight. I don't think Usyk had realized that father time was starting to get him too until that fight made it abundantly clear.
Sure, I'll agree with that. But that doesn't mean he isn't still the best, therefore number 1. Everyone knows Gassiev, Kabayel and previously Wardley and Dubois received email belts. Never at any point have they actually been above Usyk, in reality. Would Usyk beat Kabayel? Probably. I admit it would've been a new and potentially difficult challenge which is why I wanted to see it. Does he HAVE to? No. Especially now he has vacated the belts. If he performs as bad in his next fight as he did against Verhoeven, then I'll probably come round to the idea that he is no longer number 1. As of now, I'll put it down to an off night against an awkward guy who he had no video to study, and let's be honest, probably was a little complacent against. It's only natural, even for someone like Usyk.
It's either that or he failed to prepare properly for pretty much the first time in his career... And when being super prepared and motivated is one of his hallmarks, that might suggest his heart isn't in it any more. Either way, it would signal the end isn't too far off.
If it was simply half assed training and he knew it, why would he drop the titles? I think it was age. He's 39, there's nothing wrong with saying yeah, he did experience age related decline. That's aging, it happens. **** me, I'm in my late 40s, the last time I was punched in the face I was 14, and my memory is garbage compared to what it used to be.
Introspection? If he genuinely doesn't feel the motivation anymore and doesn't see the point in taking a fight he doesn't want and doesn't prove much... Makes sense at that point to hang them up and make a couple of money fights instead? Not saying it's what happened, but it's plausible. This is entirely possible, and not at all unlikely given the age and mileage.
Respectable post even though I slightly disagree Usyk said hes only having one more fight and it will likely be against Rico or Wilder and then will retire So we have to pretend that Usyk is still the number 1 heavyweight right now and the champion until then ?