WBA orders Oleksandr Usyk to face Daniel Dubois
The World Boxing Association (WBA) has ordered its heavyweight champions Usyk and Dubois to fight, so the Fury showdown will have to wait.
Christmas is coming and many boxing fans expected Santa Klaus to bring them a gift in form of a Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk superfight. But that won’t happen, not for now.
The WBA has called for the Ukrainian star to face British WBA heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois in a mandatory title defense, following on from the IBF ordering the Ukrainian to face Filip Hrgovic -represented by promoter Eddie Hearn- after the Croatian won his final eliminator vs. Zhilei Zhang in August.
With Usyk holding the WBA ‘super’, WBO, and IBF belts following back-to-back victories over Anthony Joshua and Dubois retaining his WBA ‘regular’ crown with a stoppage victory over Kevin Lerena, the aim of the WBA is to decide an outright heavyweight champion for the association.
That would reduce the number of titles and probably favor a heavyweight undisputed clash between Usyk and Fury if the Ukrainian fighter manages to defeat Dubois.
At the same time, even if Usyk gets past Dubois, that wouldn’t guarantee The Gipsy King a bout with The Cat, as the IBF will probably insist that Hrgovic get his shot, and Joe Joyce, the WBO interim champion, is also in line to fight the undefeated Usyk.
The vacating belts option
The WBA order recognizes DDD as the next in line for a mandatory title shot in a common rotation for unified champions, but that doesn’t necessarily rule out a clash between Fury and Usyk, as both Fury and Dubois are represented by Frank Warren and Queensberry Promotions.
That factor could make Dubois vacate his belt to allow a Fury vs Usyk showdown or open direct negotiations with the Gipsy King.
Usyk could also vacate his WBA belt, but if he does so, it would mean that the Usyk vs. Fury fight would no longer be for the undisputed designation, which is not the perfect scenario for such a megafight.