Heavyweight champ Usyk vacates WBO title which will go to Wardley
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has relinquished his WBO belt, the governing body said on Monday.
The title will go to British fighter Fabio Wardley, who became interim champion by beating Joseph Parker with an 11th-round stoppage last month.
Wardley was mandated to face Usyk but the Ukrainian decided to vacate the belt.
“This is not a farewell but — as expressed by his team — a respectful pause,” the WBO posted on X.
The 38-year-old Usyk became undisputed heavyweight champion for a second time by beating Daniel Dubois in July. He still holds the WBA (Super), WBC and IBF belts.
Wardley will become the sixth Briton to hold the WBO heavyweight title, after Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Henry Akinwande, Herbie Hide and Michael Bentt.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
![](/<p><strong>UEFA World Cup Qualifiers</strong></p><p><strong>Netherlands 4 - 0 Lithuania FT</strong></p><figure><img alt="The Netherlands celebrate a goal against Lithuania" height="461" src="https://media.zenfs.com/en/bbc_us_articles_995/f16d43af16a1350c427e7ca460adf637" width="819" data-uuid="0e52a60e-cb34-30de-9e8b-57d5b05bc011"><figcaption>The Netherlands scored 27 goals in their eight group games [Getty Images]</figcaption></figure><p>The Netherlands confirmed their place at the 2026 World Cup with a comfortable home victory over Lithuania.</p><p>The unbeaten Dutch were as good as there anyway, going into the final day three points above Poland with a superior goal difference of 13.</p><p>All four of the Netherlands' goalscorers were Premier League players.</p><p>Manchester City midfielder Tijjani Reijnders lashed them into a 16th-minute lead.</p><p>Liverpool's Cody Gakpo added a penalty and Tottenham's Xavi Simons hammered in a third.</p><p>Aston Villa's Donyell Malen scored a fine solo goal to increase their lead further.</p><p>Second-placed Poland won 3-2 away to Malta and will now enter the play-offs.</p><img class="tracking-img" height="1" src="https://a1.api.bbc.co.uk/hit.xiti/?s=598314&p=sport.live_coverage.ckgke81jz54t.page&x1=%5Burn%3Abbc%3Atipo%3Atopic%3Ackgke81jz54t%5D&x4=%5Ben-gb%5D&x5=%5Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Flive%2Fckgke81jz54t%5D&x7=%5Boppm%5D&x8=%5Bsynd_nojs_ISAPI%5D&x9=%5BDutch+beat+Lithuania+to+confirm+World+Cup+spot%5D&x11=%5B2025-11-17T21%3A46%3A20.062Z%5D&x12=%5B2025-11-17T21%3A46%3A20.062Z%5D&x19=%5Byahoo.north.america%5D" width="1" data-uuid="dbf22429-d1ba-31f5-b59e-0fea7fa4c0b0">)
![](/<figure><img alt="Heartbreak for the two Hungarian Reds" src="https://media.zenfs.com/en/sb_nation_articles_115/2dd2a3e12c068bfa8e009af786b44a3d" data-uuid="bad3b0b5-1d49-3c7a-91bf-36e80ce17fe1"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p class="has-text-align-none">Hungary met a shocking defeat and were knocked out of the 2026 World Cup this weekend, seen out by an Irish winner deep into stoppage time (provided in part with a ball from former Red Caoimhín Kelleher). </p><p class="has-text-align-none">Captain Dominik Szoboszlai and his Liverpool teammate Miloš Kerkez had both provided assists in a match that looked to be heading towards a 2-2 final whistle, with both Ireland and Hungary needing a win.</p><p class="has-text-align-none">Szoboszlai played a ball in for Dániel Lukács to score a headed goal in the opening minutes at the Puskás Aréna before Troy Parrott made it 1-1 from the penalty spot. Kerkez then played the ball in for an impressive volley from Barnabas Varga, which made it 2-1 at halftime. </p><p class="has-text-align-none">The match seemed to be heading for a rather boring Hungary win before Parrott made it 2-2 with 10 minutes left in regular time, leading to some sustained Irish pressure. Kerkez and Szoboszlai were left in tears as Parrott made it 3-2 for Ireland in the sixth minute of stoppage time, and Hungary still seeks to return to World Cup play for the first time since 1986. For their part, Ireland progress through to the play-offs, and seek to make their first World Cup appearance since 2002.</p><p class="has-text-align-none">Elsewhere, Ibrahima Konaté captained a French side that also featured Hugo Ekitiké, though the pair won a meaningless match as France had already qualified.</p>)