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England's heavyweight contender is set to be promoted to heavyweight title holder after the Ukrainian champion decided to relinquish his title

This situation arises after Usyk notified the WBO he would avoid a required championship defense against the British challenger

WBO Statement

The WBO stated that Usyk had "elected to relinquish his belt after deep reflection"

The Ukrainian maintains the three major championship belts, having defeated Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in July to become a repeat unified title holder

He originally secured the all-belt title holder in spring 2024 by beating Tyson Fury, before giving up the IBF title a month afterwards and opting out of facing the mandatory challenger

"WBO president Gustavo Olivieri praised the Ukrainian fighter in a announcement"

"The organization offers its sincere admiration and thanks to the Ukrainian champion, an perfect record holder across weight classes"

"His achievements mark one of the most impressive and memorable of the recent fighting history"

The boxing body stated that its organization will always welcome the champion and his camp"

Belt Timeline

Usyk won the championship in recently by overcoming Joshua and went on to successfully defend multiple times

In summer, the championship body required discussions for a mandatory defence against New Zealand's Parker, only for a Usyk's physical issue to cause the delay of the bout

Wardley's Rise

But Wardley, 30, took the interim title from Parker with a significant shock in the 11th round at the famous London arena in the previous month and was required to challenge Usyk before the September deadline

The boxing organization hasn't formally announced Wardley's promotion but his representative believes it is a formality

"Britain has a new heavyweight world champion and a rising boxing talent"

"One of the most incredible stories during my long career as a boxing representative and I could not be prouder of Fabio Wardley"

"Some huge fights ahead for the coming period as he maintains his title and establishes his place in the sport"

The champion started fighting at twenty years old, emerging from the amateur circuit and has had just 21 professional fights

Coming Challenges

• The anticipated title change represents an important development in the division
• The champion's choice to give up the championship creates fresh possibilities for additional challengers
• The boxing world now anticipates verification from the championship body
• The champion's path from alternative background to world champion continues to motivate others