Usyk's fight for the title of absolute champion is in jeopardy

New Zealander Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) and Congolese Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) will fight for the interim championship of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) on February 22 in Riyadh. The winner of the fight will become a mandatory contender for a fight with Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs).

WBO President Gustavo Olivieri wrote about this on his page on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter. At the same time, it is unknown whether Usyk will fight the winner of the fight in Saudi Arabia, as the organization may grant a delay to our champion, DAZN reports.

This will happen if Usyk's fight with the British Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) for the world heavyweight title is authorized. Such a fight is a priority for all international federations.

The day before, it became known that Dubois was forced to withdraw from the fight with Parker due to illness. This event greatly affected all the boxers' plans.

It will be recalled that Usyk already fought Dubois in August 2023. Back then, our compatriot won by technical knockout in the ninth round, and the Briton scored with a dirty punch below the belt.

Earlier it became known that our compatriot could be deprived of the World Boxing Council (WBC) belt. In addition, the promoter Oleksandr Krasiuk named the dates when the boxer will hold his next fight.

Usyk himself told us when he intends to end his career. Oleksandr also said that he is preparing to hold the most unusual fight of his career.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Oleksandr Usyk made an unusual statement about retirement, recalling a conversation with his mother after the rematch with Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs).

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