Oleksandr Usyk officially vacates IBF heavyweight title, declares it a "present" for Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois

Oleksandr Usyk has just vacated his IBF heavyweight title, taking to social media to make the announcement, which he characterized as a gift for Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. A clip of the Ukrainian phenom relinquishing his championship belt is making the rounds on X/Twitter.

Renowned boxing reporter Michael Benson shared the news on his X account, which saw Usyk call for Joshua and Dubois to fight over the title in a bout later this year. Though nothing has been officially scheduled or even projected, it appears to merely be a suggestion on Usyk's part.

"Hi everybody people. Anthony [Joshua] and Daniel [Dubois], listen. I know IBF title important to you. Tell it my present to you on September 21."

Check out Oleksandr Usyk officially vacating his IBF heavyweight title:

While the news may come as a shock to some boxing fans, Usyk has been tussling with the IBF for some time now. As the sanctioning body's champion, he had mandatory title defenses, and was expected to honor that duty by facing Filip Hrgović. Unfortunately, that matchup did not come to pass.

He requested an exemption to remain champion as he pursued a WBC heavyweight title fight with Tyson Fury, beating the latter in an action-packed split-decision. Meanwhile, Hrgović took on Dubois for the interim IBF heavyweight strap, losing via eighth-round TKO.

However, instead of unifying the belts against Dubois, Usyk has already agreed to fight Fury in a rematch scheduled for later this year. Thus, to avoid being stripped of the title, Usyk has instead opted to relinquish it.

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Oleksandr Usyk has beaten both Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua

Oleksandr Usyk is currently undefeated, and his stellar record includes wins over both Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua. The Ukrainian star has only ever faced Dubois once, beating him via ninth-round knockout, but the bout was not without controversy, as there was some dispute about a possible low blow.

Check out Oleksandr Usyk knocking out Daniel Dubois:

Dubois, however, maintains that he had actually landed a body shot and was robbed of a win.

Meanwhile, Usyk has beaten Joshua twice, outboxing him on both occasions. Thus, fan interest in a trilogy match between the pair isn't necessarily high.