Oleksandr Usyk cemented his place among boxing's modern greats with his repeat victory over Anthony Joshua in Jeddah.
Usyk overcame a disciplined start from Joshua and a thrilling rally by the former two-time champion in round nine to retain the IBF, WBA, and WBO titles by margins of 116-112 and 115-113, with judge Glenn Feldman inexplicably plumping for Joshua by the latter margin.
A former undisputed cruiserweight champion who turned over with an amateur record of 335-15, another victory in Jeddah has further burnished Usyk's place within the pantheon.
Now, all roads appear to point in one direction
WATCH ON DAZN: Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2
What's next for Oleksandr Usyk after beating Anthony Joshua?
In the week before Usyk's rematch with Joshua, Tyson Fury announced his comeback and then retired again within the space of three days. The fact Fury has reached out to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman to inform him of his plans but the sanctioning body has not yet made their belt vacant only adds to a picture of confusion that might very well be the champion's intention.
"Everybody is waiting for the fight to happen a week from Saturday and then we'll explore whether it's feasible to do a fight for the complete unification," Fury's US promoter Bob Arum told Fight Freaks Unite around the time of his fighter touting for bouts with Derek Chisora and Hafthor Bjornsson, but before his latest retirement on the occasion of his 34th birthday. "He's having fun, for Christ's sake! Don't take it seriously!"
When Fury reacted scathingly to the performances of both men on social media after the bout in Saudi Arabia, before declaring "The Gypsy King is here to stay," the hype machine was already churning back into overdrive.
Usyk claimed the Ring Magazine belt that Fury's retirement left vacant and the 35-year-old now only has eyes for one contest.
"I am sure Tyson Fury is not retired yet," he said in the ring afterwards. "I am sure Tyson Fury wants to fight me. If I’m not fighting Tyson Fury, I’m not fighting at all."
For his part, Fury has spoken in derisory terms about Usyk, dismissing him as a "blown-up middleweight", albeit primarily as a barb sent in Joshua's direction. There's little doubt that a fight with his fellow Brit would have been a more marketable and more straightforward assignment, only for Usyk to effectively take it off the table for the time being.
Just finished a touching video conference with @Tyson_Fury who has confirmed his official retirement from boxing . We fully support his decision which is a dream for anyone to retire undefeated and as WBC champion of the world.@WBCBoxing will prepare a special farewell event soon pic.twitter.com/2SgCRILldl
— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) August 12, 2022
Fury is a vastly improved fighter from the one who was floored by another former cruiserweight champion in Steve Cunningham earlier in his career, but he might calculate that a nimble, skillful, shorter heavyweight is a headache he can do without. Even allowing for his post-fight bombast, Fury's retirement feels relatively more likely to stick now Usyk has beaten Joshua again.
A vanquished Joshua and Fury having left the stage would leave the division in a degree of flux, meaning it might be a good time for Usyk to tackle one of those pesky mandatory obligations that come around awfully quickly for unified champions. Filip Hrgovic controversially won an IBF final eliminator against Zhang Zhilei in Saturday's chief support but, in truth, the 15-0 Croatian looked far short of what is required to challenge Usyk.
Usyk's tangles with Joshua, Derek Chisora and former WBC cruiserweight king Tony Bellew means his profile in the U.K. is considerable. He also boxed Joe Joyce in the World Series of Boxing before each turned professional. His former amateur rival is ranked highly by the WBC, WBO, and IBF and a showdown between the pair could be huge if Joyce is able to take down former WBO champ Joseph Parker in September.
If Deontay Wilder is in fine fettle when he returns to the ring, against Robert Helenius in October, then a matchup between the knockout machine and Usyk the master boxer would hugely whet the appetite.