Usyk drops WBO title

retire please

 

Absolutely petrified mate....

 

Make your mind up

Before he dropped the belt you were complaining about his silence

 

He kinda has a point though. What's the point of being an undisputed heavyweight champion if you're not going to defend your belts?

 

How does he have a point?
You think Uysk is scared of Wardley as that's what he is implying

It's not a great look admittedly but it's 100 per cent business related and absolutely nothing to do with being scared

And he isn't undisputed anymore is he, he just relinquished a belt

Not many people go on to defend undisputed really as the mandatories just don't suit the champions agenda

 

I can see why Usyk has done it, though. Undisputed is such a difficult accomplishment because of all the BS and politics that go on in every organization. Whether it's the WBC, WBA, IBF, or WBO, they all have their darling promoters, and fighters they manufacture into positions of power so they can obtain the sanctioning fees, and promoters and fighters can all go home with a nice chunk of change.

Pulev is #1 with the WBA, and Itauma is at #2 despite beating nobody in the top 10. Okolie is #1 with the WBC; the IBF has nobody at #1 and Chisora at #2. I literally had to check this across three separate sources because it's so ridiculous. The disconnect and the arbitrary nature of these bizarre rankings create such a headache for Usyk and his team, especially if he wants to keep hold of them all. They end up forcing mandatories, and then he has no choice but to either fight them or vacate.

Wardley peeling off the WBO belt and defending it 3 times in the same window it takes Usyk to have one fight is a win-win for all parties. The WBO makes a killing off sanctioning fees, Bricktop rolls Fabio out a few times at the O2 against C-grade punching bags, DAZN stays happy. Usyk is obviously the King of the division, but if he's going to relinquish one, it may as well be the WBO, which is by far the worst of the four and carries the least weight.

If there were one unifying set of rankings where each governing body could agree on a definitive top 10, Usyk would 100% defend against them in order. But that would be asking the sport to have some cohesive ranking system, which, for some reason, seems like an impossible ask.

 

Usyk or any undisputed champion should drop all the belts. Once you are undisputed the belts mean nothing and just get in the way of meaningful fights being made. Not to mention all the income lost from paying sanctioning fees on four belts

 

I think fans would be more accepting if Usyk said, "I'm not going to fight Wardley, I'm going to fight this much more recognized dangerous and deserving fighter".
Otherwise just dropping the belt with no reason given, sounds a lot like a duck.

No, money is not a good reason from a fan perspective. He's already earned generational wealth. Fans don't care about him being able to buy another mansion. You want to call yourself a champion, you need to act like a champion and defend your claim to be the best. If all you care about is money and not sport, go join the Jake Paul clown show. I guess you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the greedy belly.

 

I can't stand this whole "being elevated to full champion" bull****. No boxer, at any time, should be champion without having won it in the ring. Just have them fight for the vacant title. Not only that, it destroys the moment of becoming champion for the boxer themselves. They've probably dreamed of that moment for so long, hearing their name announced etc etc, and then, they get a call 'Oh by the way, you're the champion now.' Just everything about it completely sucks and is one of my most hated things about boxing.

 

Then he should just retire or announce his intentions. Because this doesn't look great after requesting an extension only to drop the belt. It's not as though he's fighting more than once or twice a year.

Don't get me wrong, I love Usyk as a fighter, but at this stage he's only stalling the division with these antics.

I agree. Drop em and take the fights he wants. Just be honest about it is all I'm asking for.

Well the problem is that everyone else is trying to fight Usyk only for him to drop a belt and deny these guys their shots.

First it was Parker, now it's Wardley. If Usyk only wants money fights he should just be upfront about it and drop all the belts so the division can move on. We're all waiting on Usyk and it's starting to wear very thin.

 

Retire? I wouldn't mind him doing so but why if he wants to carry on? The guy still has three belts to choose to defend
It'll be interesting to hear why he chose to ignore Wardley but people are all of a sudden acting like he has been taking liberties for years
I happy to admit this isn't this finest hour but your acting like he has been holding the division up for years

He just dropped a belt so that's now an avenue for other contenders to pursue if they choose to

His next move will be important most definitely but considering the career he has had and the paths he took, I think he deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt... For now at least

 

Usyk has only fought the same three opponents in 4 years, and is likely holding out so he can rematch them again.

How is that not holding up the division? This is also the second time he has dropped a belt without actually needing to.

He should either retire, or drop the belts to chase his money fights. It's not unreasonable.

 

Everyone rubbished Fury when he took the same liberty. It'd be nice if everyone was consistent.

There's also no denying Usyk's accomplishments, but there comes a point where people have to start acknowledging he's taking the **** a little.