Heavyweight boxing’s lineal championship has survived for more than 140 years, but Oleksandr Usyk’s proposed farewell against Deontay Wilder could leave the historic title facing something more permanent than another vacancy.

From John L. Sullivan through Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Tyson Fury and Usyk, World Boxing News recognizes 40 men as having occupied the position regarded as heavyweight boxing’s ultimate crown.

The principle has always been simple. Beat the man who beat the man and the championship changes hands.

Usyk has vacated his sanctioning body titles and wants Wilder for what he has described as the final fight of his career. If Wilder wins, there is no argument under the traditional lineal principle. He beats the man and becomes the man.

If Usyk wins and retires, boxing could be left trying to rebuild a lineage in a heavyweight division entering an entirely different championship era.

Usyk-Wilder Could Be the End

WBN recently outlined how Wilder could remarkably finish his career as lineal heavyweight champion after appearing close to the end following his brutal knockout defeat to Zhilei Zhang in 2024.

The former WBC champion has never held the lineal crown despite three previous opportunities against Fury. Wilder would become the 41st heavyweight recognized by WBN within a lineage stretching back to Sullivan in 1885.

One right hand against Usyk could change that. A Ukrainian victory creates the more complicated scenario.

Retirements have interrupted the lineage before, but heavyweight boxing has eventually found a way to establish another recognized number one.

This time could be different.

Zuffa Boxing intends to crown its own heavyweight champion, which could even be the Usyk vs Wilder fightand has indicated a willingness to work with boxing’s established sanctioning bodies in some cases. That potentially adds another heavyweight title alongside the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO championships.

The Ring further complicates the picture.

Can Boxing Create Another Lineal Champion?

The Ring championship has increasingly become associated with the lineal concept because its heavyweight champion is generally regarded as the division’s leading fighter.

Usyk leaves little room for argument. He defeated Anthony Joshua twice, beat Fury twice and remains unbeaten as a professional.

But what happens after he leaves?

What happens if The Ring heavyweight championship remains within Zuffa while another fighter outside the promotion unifies the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles? Which fighter would then be recognized as the man capable of restoring the lineal championship?

The lineal championship cannot simply be handed to whoever holds the most belts. Somebody has to establish themselves as the man.

But who gets that recognition if The Ring and the sanctioning bodies recognize two different heavyweight champions for the foreseeable future?
The lineal championship could almost certainly cease to exist as we now know it.

Boxing has solved that problem before.

Following Lewis’s retirement, The Ring crowned Vitali Klitschko heavyweight champion after his victory over Corrie Sanders in 2004, with WBN recognizing Klitschko as the beginning of a new lineage. Wladimir Klitschko later became the division’s dominant champion before Fury defeated him in 2015.

Fury’s victory eventually led to Usyk, who defeated him twice in 2024.

That lineage now rests with Usyk.

A 140-Year Championship Facing Extinction

The lineal title has never required a sanctioning fee, mandatory challenger or physical belt. It exists because one fighter is recognized as the man at the top of the heavyweight division.

Not everybody has accepted that concept.

Eddie Hearn dismissed it when Fury’s status was being debated in 2018.

“The lineal championship doesn’t actually exist,” Hearn said. “It’s a mythical title that people want to use when they don’t have any belts.”

WBN reported Hearn’s argument at the timebut has continued recognizing and documenting heavyweight boxing’s lineage.

Forty men and more than 140 years provide the history behind that position.

The concern after Usyk is whether an increasingly divided sport will still be capable of producing one heavyweight champion widely recognized above all the others.

If Wilder wins, the problem disappears for now. He beats Usyk and takes the lineage with him.

If Usyk wins, retires and boxing’s competing championship structures continue separating the heavyweight division, the lineal crown could become more than vacant.

It could become extinct.

And if nobody can agree who is entitled to bring it back, whether it’s Zuffa, The Ring or the other sanctioning bodies, Hearn’s old argument may finally have its day.

But once it’s gone, did it really exist anyway?

About the Author

Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.

Read Phil Jay’s full bio and latest stories.

Dmitry Bivol currently holds the WBA, WBO and IBF light-heavyweight titles, with a trilogy showdown against Artur Beterbiev rumoured once again, but the three-belt unified titleholder has now been given just 10 days to agree to a fight with an alternate former world champion.

The Russian avenged his maiden career defeat by scoring a majority decision win in his rematch with Beterbiev to claim the undisputed throne in February 2025. Although, just two months later, Bivol relinquished the WBC crown with David Benavidez being the beneficiary.

Since then, Bivol has fought only once, making his ring return in a decision win against IBF mandatory challenger Michael Eifert back in Maybefore rumours of a third fight with Beterbiev re-emerged.

Yet, last month, Bivol was ordered to face former WBA (Super) super-middleweight world champion Callum Smith, who is currently in possession of the WBO Interim light-heavyweight title and positioned as the WBO mandatory challenger.

Bivol then underwent elbow surgery and was granted an extension to the negotiation period with Smith, but last night, WBO President Gustavo Olivierirevealed that an additional extension has been granted, giving the parties until August 20 to reach a deal.

“Re: WBO 175 lbs – Bivol/Smith

“The WBO Championships Committee has granted the parties a final extension, through August 20, 2026, to reach terms for the Mandatory bout, consistent with the WBO’s 1 World Champion per division policy and the objective of eliminating the Interim title.

“Should an agreement not be reached by the deadline, purse bid proceedings will be conducted on August 27, 2026, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.”

As Olivieri states, if an agreement is not reached by Thursday, August 20, then purse bid proceedings will take place on Thursday, August 27.

One option could see Bivol vacate his WBO light-heavyweight world title in favour of another clash with Beterbievwith Smith expected to be elevated and thus become a two-division world champion.

Fight fans are keen for an announcement of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, but one further detail about the proposed event emerged after a heavyweight fighter was in action on Matchroom’s show in Queensland, Australia today.

The heavyweight division is currently searching for its new superstars, and Australia has an intriguing offering in Teremoana Teremoana, who had won by knockout in all 11 of his professional contests prior to today; nine of those stoppages coming in the opening round and the remaining two coming in round two.

Consequently, the 28-year-old is deemed to be one to watch in the heavyweight division, but in Queensland, he was tasked with his most difficult opponent to date in Michigan-born DeAndre Savage, who had also won inside of the distance in all 11 of his victories but suffered a maiden defeat to Brandon Moore last September.

Trained by former WBC super-welterweight world champion Tony Harrison, 35-year-old Savage looked wary from the get-go and Teremoana wasted no time in getting to work in his first main event, as the imposing 6’6” Aussie heavyweight quickly assumed control of the contest and showed tremendous hand speed for his size.

Still, Savage survived a one-sided opening round without hitting the deck, despite a terrified look in his eye throughout the opening three minutes. The American would not be so lucky in the second, buzzed early in the round and then dropped after Teremoana landed a duo of straight right-hands to the temple.

Savage did not attempt to beat the count, instead crawling to a knee and waiting keenly for referee Phil Austin to finish his 10-count, awarding Teremoana with a 12th consecutive knockout as a professional without fighting ever beyond round two.

In his post-fight interview on the DAZN broadcast, after treating the fans to a haka in the ring, Teremoana shared news that he would be appearing on the Fury-Joshua undercard.

“What I have heard on the grapevine is that I should be on the AJ-Fury undercard.”

Eddie Hearn then confirmed the idea, but recognised that he will need to increase the level of his opposition for a fight on a card of such magnitude.

“That is definitely the plan, but we have got to step up the opposition.”

Despite those words, Eddie Hearn recently threatened to call the Fury-Joshua fight offif a premature announcement for the event to be in America is made any time soon.