The IBF heavyweight title is set to be relinquished by the winner between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury after their undisputed heavyweight bout on May 18th. With a rematch clause having been agreed upon by both fighters, it will leave the winner unable to fulfill their obligations to fight IBF interim champion Filip Hrgovic who was acknowledged as the mandatory challenger since November of 2022.
When it comes to the IBF’s rules, the specific set of requirements that an IBF champion faces have been made abundantly clear, with the IBF stating that a IBF heavyweight champion has nine months to defend their title against a mandatory challenger.
However, Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KO’s) was unable to fulfill his obligations when the IBF had ordered the Ukrainian heavyweight to face Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KO’s) in November of 2022 due to a lengthy recuperation period following a rematch with Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KO’s) months earlier in August that saw Usyk remain out of the ring for almost an entire year.
Usyk did eventually return to the ring roughly a year later in August of 2023, it was against then-WBA ‘regular’ champion Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KO’s) who he went on to stop in their ‘unification’ title match of the WBA heavyweight titles. To allow Usyk to defend his WBA ‘super’ title―which he defended alongside the rest his titles―Dubois without any penalty, the IBF decided to rescind their mandate for Usyk to face Hrgovic.
With Oleksandr Usyk now set to face Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KO’s) two months from now in a match that will see all of the fighters’ titles be put on the line, the IBF has drawn a line in regards to the continued prolonging of the IBF mandatory match and has delved into one of their rules to ensure the undisputed heavyweight winner will be stripped.
The reasoning for the IBF’s decision to strip the winner of Usyk-Fury pertains to the rematch clause that has been confirmed to be in their bout contract for May 18th. With the two heavyweights expected to compete against each other again following their first match, Hrgovic will remain incapable of fighting the undisputed heavyweight champion after already having been denied a chance to become a world champion for nearly two years.
After the IBF belt has been relinquished, interim champion Hrgovic will face the highest-ranked available contender on the IBFs heavyweight rankings, which at the moment is Anthony Joshua who is ranked at #3 on the ranking boards [with the #2 spot left vacant, and #1 occupied by IBF interim champion Hrgovic].
It should be noted that the IBF’s decision to vacate the title is not yet set in stone, with the sanctioning body having yet to confirm this will actually occur due to their inability or unwillingness to divulge their decisions to the public. However, the multiple reports linked to this development seem to suggest the possibility of the IBF title being vacated following May 18th to be highly likely.
