"Today is Friday, the weather is beautiful, and it is a good day to say that I want to vacate all of the belts I currently hold," Usyk said on social media. "I want to make them available so the guys who want them and are next in line can fight for them. I'm leaving the belts but not leaving the sport, because I still have my last dance.

“This is a well-considered decision that I am confident will open new opportunities for me. This is not the end of the story. The continuation lies ahead.”

Usyk (25-0, 16 KOs) turns 40 in January, and talk of retirement has been front and center for the Ukrainian at this stage of this career, especially after the lineal champion went toe-to-toe in a tougher-than-expected tussle against Rico Verhoeven last month in Egypt.

Usyk's advisor Sergey Lapin shed some additional light on Usyk's situation with a statement of his own on Friday. "As Usyk's sporting director, I can say that this decision was made with the future of the heavyweight division in mind," he said, per ESPN. "Oleksandr vacated the sanctioning body titles to give Anthony Joshua the opportunity to compete for and reunify them. "As for Oleksandr, his goal has always been to finish his legendary career with his final fights in the United States, where he wants to leave the last chapter of his boxing legacy."

Here’s what everything boils down to: Usyk has one more bout remaining in his career – "I am vacating my unified WBA, IBF and WBC heavyweight world titles ahead of stepping into the ring for my final fight," he posted on X – and he wants the curtain call to take place in the United States, all while giving his teammate Joshua the potential opportunity to clean up the sanctioning body titles he just vacated.

Let’s look at the top options Usyk can consider for his "last dance."

Usyk survived a scare during his last fight on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza, looking uneven through 10 rounds against Verhoeven before controversially stopping the kickboxing legend in the 11th. Verhoeven’s valiant performance certainly warrants a rematch, which would make tremendous commercial sense in his native Netherlands.

Usyk has beaten Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois twice each over the last five years, and Kabayel is the most deserving contender left for Usyk to further cement his pound-for-pound status. Kabayel is the WBC interim champion and The Ring’s No. 2-ranked fighter, and a stadium slugfest in Kabayel’s home country of Germany would equate to big business.

Usyk has shown an appetite for a trilogy fight against “Greedy Belly” after beating Fury twice in spirited decisions in 2024. It could be the most lucrative and attractive option for Usyk, but Fury is all in on fighting Anthony Joshua later this year, and waiting to see how things unfold might not fit Usyk’s timeline. But if Fury beats Usyk’s comrade Joshua, there’s a tremendous storyline to pursue and a potential retirement fight for both guys.

Widely considered the heir to the heavyweight throne, the 21-year-old knockout artist has been steamrolling through the competition with much fanfare. Next up for Itauma is the toughest test of his three-year career, against Filip Hrgovic on August 29. Another vicious win will leave everyone calling for Usyk to fight the phenom in what could be a potential passing of the heavyweight torch.

Usyk was in negotiations to fight Wilder last winter, but a deal never came to be, and Wilder moved on to win a sloppy decision against Derek Chisora in April. Usyk has been gung-ho on fighting the faded former heavyweight titleholder, but a win against “The Bronze Bomber” wouldn’t add much to Usyk’s legacy.

While Wilder is the only American heavyweight contender who can move the needle in Usyk’s stateside plans, Benavidez might be the only American fighter who could actually give Usyk a run for his money. Benavidez already moved up from light heavyweight to cruiserweight to beat Gilberto Ramirez last month, and if he gets the chance to fight Usyk, it could be a no-brainer to make another move up in weight since a Dmitry Bivol bout doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon for “The Mexican Monster.” Some of the sport’s most respected observers, including Roy Jones Jr. and Robert Garcia, believe Benavidez beats Usyk.

If Usyk is inclined to continue pursuing crossover clashes outside of Verhoeven, fights against former UFC heavyweight champions are his best bets. Jones’ MMA future is up in the air, but he’s been vocal about competing in a boxing match. Ngannou has had mixed results against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, but he could be another dark horse candidate for Usyk to consider.

WBO heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois, Fabio Wardley, Filip Hrgovic, Frank Sanchez, Efe Ajagba, Murat Gassiev and Justis Huni round out the rest of The Ring’s top 10-ranked heavyweights, but it’s hard to imagine Usyk kicking the tires on any of them for one of his final fights if he’s seeking a meaningful matchup that will attract the masses.

Anthony Joshua is in the heavyweight mix as well, but Usyk and AJ have become best of friends and training partners over the last year, and it’s a far-fetched idea to believe they could set aside their brotherhood for a third battle.

Here’s how the current heavyweight title picture looks.

IBF: Frank Sanchez knocked out Richard Torrez in two rounds last month in an IBF title eliminator and is currently ranked No. 1 in the division by the sanctioning body. The No. 2 spot is vacant, and Moses Itauma is ranked No. 3. The expectation should be for the IBF to order a fight for its vacant title between Sanchez and the next highest available contender.

WBA: Murat Gassiev is the WBA’s “Regular” titleholder and has a fight scheduled July 11 against Tony Yoka for the secondary belt. If the WBA is serious about cleaning up confusion around having multiple titleholders across several divisions, there is no reason Gassiev-Yoka shouldn’t be contested for the sanctioning body’s “Super Champion” designation that Usyk held.

WBC: Kabayel has been the WBC interim champion since February 2025, and the expectation should be for the sanctioning body to elevate him to its full title. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, who was bashed for allowing Usyk to make a voluntary title defense against Verhoeven, was surprised by Usyk’s decision to vacate the titles.

“What a disappointment it is for me to learn from a social media video that our heavyweight champion is vacating his WBC title,” Sulaiman said on social media. “This is the current life we live in. I would even think it is AI. I personally wish Usyk great success in his life inside and outside the ring.”

WBO: Daniel Dubois is the WBO heavyweight titleholder after beating Fabio Wardley in a brutal war last month. Usyk vacated his WBO title in November instead of pursuing a fight against Wardley, who was the interim titleholder at the time and got elevated to full champion before suffering the 11th-round stoppage to Dubois. Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.