When Oleksandr Usyk stopped Daniel Dubois at London’s Wembley Stadium last month, the Ukrainian great didn’t only regain his undisputed heavyweight crown, he cemented his standing as the best heavyweight of his era.

The win brought an unofficial end to an entertaining, active period for boxing’s glamour division. By beating Dubois, Usyk removed the most immediate threat to his throne and after spending years embroiled with Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Dubois, he finds himself without a standout, unavoidable rival.

Usyk is coming towards the end of his outstanding career and is unlikely to be around long enough to satisfy a long list of mandatory challengers. It seems to be just a matter of time before his undisputed title is once again fragmented and a new group of contenders can battle it out for his vast collection of championship belts.

Usyk, Fury, Joshua and Deontay Wilder have dominated the heavyweight picture for a decade.

Once those massive names do depart the scene for good, heavyweight boxing looks set to enter a period of flux and somebody is going to have to step forward and prove themselves a worthy successor before being accepted by a public who have seen that — contrary to what they were told for years — big heavyweight matchups and unification fights can be made, providing all parties are willing.

On the undercard of Usyk’s stoppage of Dubois, former two-weight world champion, Lawrence Okolie (22-1, 16 KOs), overcame a torn left biceps to comfortably outpoint Kevin Lerena and secure his position as the WBC’s No. 1 heavyweight.

Whatever Usyk decides to do, Okolie will be in the mix and the 32-year-old Londoner told The Ring that he would like the bunfight to start sooner rather than later.

“Everyone is begging Usyk now,” he said. “Every boxer, every heavyweight boxer, every heavyweight trainer, every heavyweight manager, every heavyweight promoter is just like, 'You've done it. Well done. You’ve beaten everyone twice.'

“They're not just saying that because they don't want to see him lose. They’re saying it because he's holding up all the belts. So it's like, let them all go. Let everyone else have a Royal Rumble because otherwise — whether or not any of us believe we can beat Usyk isn’t the point — that means you're stuck to all the belts being challenged for once or twice a year.

“So, say there’s four interim guys waiting, they have to wait two years each depending on which one gets pulled first so you do want to see it get divided and then there could be another push towards a further undisputed in the future.

“I think everything does sort of wait on Usyk but something tells me, and maybe it’s just wishful thinking, that if he doesn't box Joseph Parker next with the WBO ordering it, why would you let go of one and not let go of all of them and then just have your own exhibition match or your own fight against Fury or whoever it's going to be against? So we have to wait and see.”

Agit Kabayel finds himself in a more delicate situation than Okolie. The in-form German holds the WBC interim title and won’t want to make any decisions about his future until Usyk decides on his next step.

Should Usyk relinquish the famous green and gold belt, Kabayel and Okolie would be matched for the vacant title. It is a fight Okolie is more than willing to step into.

“I don’t really like words like destined, but I think it’s looking aligned. He’s obviously interim champion. I'm silver [champion] and No. 1-ranked. So, I feel like it’s depending on what Usyk does,” Okolie said.

“Usyk might decide he just wants to box Kabayel. He might decide he wants to box Parker. He might decide he wants to box someone else. So I don't think much is going to move until Usyk makes that decision but whether it’s next or the immediate one after that, I think me and Kabayel are going to fight. And I don't really see anyone else calling Kabayel out at all in the world. I haven't seen one boxer say, 'I want to box Kabayel.'

“I seem to be the only one beating that drum so we'll see when the time comes.”

Another of the fighters who looks certain to be involved in the shakeup is undefeated WBA interim champion, Fabio Wardley. Okolie has been involved in a long-running feud with Wardley’s manager, Dillian Whyte, and if a fight with Kabayel would be a product of boxing politics, a meeting between the two British contenders appears to be natural and inevitable.

“God willing, we'll both keep winning. I think it’s it's a guaranteed fight that's got to happen,” Okolie said.

“He's someone that if you talk about what he's done, it's another person that it'll be a lie for me to be like, 'Oh, he ain’t done [nothing].' I think he did really well in his last fight and he showed a lot in that fight.

“Obviously I wanted the Dillian Whyte fight that didn't that didn’t materialise, Moses [Itauma] is getting that. Dillian manages Fabio so, if I can't get Dillian, give me Fabio and we can have a dance.”