On December 11 in Cardiff Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua will finally take place after all the years of waiting, to put the bow on a year in which the sport’s marquee division has seen significant change.

The great Oleksandr Usyk vacated his belts after becoming undisputed champion for a second time, and we now have three new champions.

There is one domino still to fall of course, and we should see Fury or Joshua joining the select band of three-time heavyweight champions in the early hours of December 12.

Let’s assess the current title situation ahead of that blockbuster at the Principality Stadium.

Current world heavyweight champions in October 2026

Furyjoshua.com assesses the title situation after that Daniel Dubois vs Fabio Wardley rematch:

WBC: Agit Kabayel (27-0)

The 34-year-old German ascended to the hallowed green and gold belt when Usyk vacated all the sanctioning body belts he won after becoming undisputed champion for a second time. He will defend the belt for the first time against Albanian giant Nelson Hysa (25-0) in Dusseldorf on November 28.

WBA: Vacant (Fury vs Joshua winner)

This is where things get really complicated, and this is where Fury and Joshua enter the room. The WBA has two titles - a regular and a super. The ‘super’ is the one we are interested in here, and now it appears to be vacant with Russia’s Murat Gassiev holding the regular strap. That vacant title WILL be on the line when Fury and Joshua meet in Wales on December 11. So (assuming no draw) one of them will become a three-time world heavyweight champion.

IBF: Filip Hrgovic (21-1)

The fearsome 34-year-old Croatian claimed the vacant IBF strap by somehow outlasting the freakishly talented Moses Itauma in a gripping encounter in London in August. ‘El Animal’ probably lost eight of the nine rounds as Itauma threw everything at him, but Hrgovic also has a magnificent chin and great heart to go with his chopping right hand. Eventually Itauma ran out of gas and the Croat pounced to become a world heavyweight champion. There is now talk of a unification showdown with Daniel Dubois - the man who handed Hrgovic his only pro defeat so far back in 2024.

WBO: Daniel Dubois (24-3)

Dubois, already a two-time heavyweight champion, could well be the future of the division right now. Saturday’s two-round obliteration of Wardley completed back-to-back wins over the Ipswich man and ‘Dynamite’ was simply brilliant. He is fast, powerful and has very bad intentions - a dangerous mix for any potential opponent. A rematch with Hrgovic would be an enticing prospect but in reality we are just excited to see him in with any elite rival. At the age of 29 Daniel already has terrific experience, all the physical assets and he has come back from the traumas of those losses to Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk with flying colours.

Ring magazine: Oleksandr Usyk (25-0)

Usyk gave up all his alphabet titles (those handed out by the four officially recognised sanctioning bodies) earlier this year but he did not give up the hallowed Ring magazine title. He remains the champion and we wait to see who he will fight next on his retirement tour at the age of 39. A showdown with big-punching American Deontay Wilder appears to be a possibility.

Lineal heavyweight champion: Oleksandr Usyk (25-0)

There is no belt for this one, but it might be the most meaningful title of all, going to ‘the man who beat the man’. Usyk became lineal champ when he won his first meeting with Tyson Fury in May 2024, and he has not relinquished that moniker yet. Until somebody finally beats him, it will remain that way.