WBC president makes surprising statement regarding Usyk’s decision to vacate.
The biggest boxing news story of the last few days arrived in the form of Oleksandr Usyk–holder of the WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles–announcing that he would be relinquishing all of his hardware.
The Ukrainian’s reasoning was that he wished to give the top contenders the chances they deserve at becoming world champions themselves, but he made it clear that he intends to have only one more fight before calling time on his career.
This would contradict his statement prior to his fight with Rico Verhoeven, with Usyk having claimed he would be having three more fights before he hangs up the gloves.
Either way, once Usyk had officially given up his belts, there were soon fighters who benefitted. Most notably, Agit Kabayel (the WBC interim champion) was upgraded to full titlist, making him Germany’s first heavyweight champion since the great Max Schmeling won the title on a disqualification over Jack Sharkey in 1930.
However, while Kabayel was likely happy following Usyk’s relinquishing of the WBC title, Mauricio Sulaiman (president of the WBC) was not.
In fact, Sulaiman made more than one post related to the matter, making his disappointment very clear.
“Hard to explain how to put it in words, the feeling of opening social media and see[ing] the heavyweight champion of the world just simply relinquishing the belt just like that. No phone call, no letter, no attention”, Sulaiman stated in a video.
“It’s a time that we are livin’ in. Boxers go through many phases. When they begin, they’re humble, they are hungry and they are thankful, they’re loyal, and then money changes everything.”
Sulaiman did go on to praise Usyk and his achievements, but it’s apparent that the head of the WBC would rather have seen the title defended than given up.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán speaks on Oleksandr Usyk’s announcement regarding the WBC Heavyweight Title.
We wish Oleksandr nothing but the best in his new ventures.@wbcmoro pic.twitter.com/yQ3NWXnzlz
— World Boxing Council (@WBCBoxing) June 26, 2026
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