Unbeaten Oleksandr Usyk (16-0, 12 KOs) has been relieved of another world title, but the World Boxing Council is not letting im go that easily.

The WBC board of governors has unanimously voted in favor to grant Usyk the status of "champion in recess" - which the sanctioning body says is to allow him to recover from his recent injury and to support him in his attempt to compete in the heavyweight division.

The WBC states that Usyk maintains his rights as world champion. If he ever decides to move down in weight, it gives Usyk the power to challenge the current world champion.

Usyk has been out of the ring since November 2018, when he knocked out Tony Bellew in eight rounds.

A few months later, he made a decision to move up to the heavyweight division.

In 2018, he cleaned out the cruiserweight ranks by unifying the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF world titles.

Since making that announcement, he has already vacated the WBA title - which was passed over to mandatory challenger Denis Lebedev.

Usyk was scheduled to make his heavyweight debut last month, against veteran contender Carlos Takam. But then the Olympic gold medal winner suffered an injury and withdrew from the bout. He is expected to make his heavyweight debut before the year is out.