Eddie Hearn says Oleksandr Usyk’s retirement makes the heavyweight division more exciting

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Asked how Usyk’s departure changes the landscape, Hearn said the division now has a chance to produce several new titleholders instead of remaining centered around one dominant champion.

“It’s good news for the contenders and actually, to be honest with you, good news for the division because I think we’re going to see some interesting things come up,” Hearn told Secondsout.

“If you look at the WBA, it’s Gassiev vs. Jarrell Miller for the world title. If you look at the IBF, it’s Frank Sanchez… Then you have Wardley and Dubois fighting for the IBF, of course. Then you have Itauma. Maybe they’ll let Hrgovic fight for the vacant title.”

Hearn believes the reshuffled championship picture could ultimately benefit fans by creating more meaningful fights among the division’s top contenders.

“You’re going to be in a situation where you can have four world champions, which I don’t mind as long as they fight each other,” Hearn said.

“They’re not big names either, so you can see some unifications and some good matches. Then you’ve got the Fury-Joshua winner who wants to fight for the belt. So I actually think it’s really exciting.”

Usyk announced on Friday that he was vacating his WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles after becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era. His decision leaves several sanctioning bodies poised to crown new champions over the coming months.

Hearn has already confirmed that Anthony Joshua remains committed to facing Kristian Prenga ahead of a long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury. Beyond those contracted bouts, he says Joshua’s goal is to become a three-time heavyweight champion, a goal that could become more attainable with several vacant titles expected to be filled by new champions.