Oleksandr Usyk next opponent selected but there is a MAJOR catch

Newly-crowned undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has a next opponent, but there is a major catch.

No sooner than the 38-year-old Ukrainian genius (24-0 with 15 wins inside distance) annexed all the marbles for a second time by blasting out Daniel Dubois inside five rounds at Wembley, talk turned to just how long he would remain undisputed. Boxing’s notorious politics mean it will not likely be for long.

Within days of Usyk’s brilliant virtuoso performance in front of more than 90,000 fans at London’s iconic venue, the World Boxing Organization announced that it was ordering Usyk to face its mandatory contender Joseph Parker in his first title defence.

At first glance there’s nothing that appears to be wrong with that – Parker is a 36-3 former world champion who is probably a lock for being in the top three fighters in the divison right now. Only Usyk and the returning Tyson Fury would sit above him. But there’s a problem.

The money being pumped into the sport by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia – and it’s General Entertainment Authority headed up by Turki Alalshikh – is delivering dream fights that set the pulse racing for boxing fans everywhere. Usyk vs Parker, it appears, does not fall into that category.

No interest in Usyk vs Parker

No sooner had that WBO announcement been made, the Ring was claiming it had it on good authority that Riyadh Season and Sela were “not interested in making a fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Joseph Parker”.

So the thing to remember here is that while boxing fans, the real hardcore purists out there, might like the idea of a competitive Usyk vs Parker matchup, it is not going to get crossover fans excited. So who would the Saudis want to see in with Usyk?

Who will Usyk fight next?

The smart money of course would rest with three potential opponents – Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Moses Itauma. With a small chance of a bizarre MMA matchup with Youtuber turned boxer Jake Paul (sighs).

Usyk has already defeated Fury and Joshua twice, but the one Alalshikh has already said he wants is that cross-generation blockbuster vs Itauma. The 20-year-old next big thing in the heavyweight division.

Itauma is only just out of his teens and short of rounds after blasting out 10 KOs on his way to a 12-0 pro record. But already he’s being talked about as a world title contender.

So while the swift disappointment for Team Parker may be something of a blow for the purists, we cannot have it both ways. We either want the best matchups/most exciting fights, or we want the fighters who are in the mandatory positions to get their title shots.

Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk Final Press Conference Riyadh Season Saudi Arabia May 16 2024
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk pictured at the final press conference ahead of their May 18 heavywight title fight in Saudi Arabia (Photo – Round n Bout Media/Queensberry Promotions).

As it stands the likely scenario would appear to be this:

  • Usyk does not comply with the order to make a fight with Parker.
  • Usyk is then stripped of the WBO world title
  • Usyk then moves on to a fight of his choice (likely one of the three aforementioned Brits)
  • The titles once again start to become fragmented

For any fans new to the sport of boxing, this is standard procedure – there are four major sanctioning bodies who make up that undisputed clan – the WBC, the WBA, the IBF and the WBO. All have mandatory contenders and one champion cannot service all those requirements AND fight who he wants as well.

When Usyk first became undisputed heavyweight king by defeating Tyson Fury in that epic May 2024 matchup in Riyadh, he held all of the belts for just under two weeks. He was then stripped by the IBF, who handed the title to that man Daniel Dubois.

It’s likely Usyk’s undisputed reign will once again be shortlived, with the Ukrainian moving on to fight for the biggest dollar in the biggest fights before he finally hangs up his gloves. We can all get angry about it, but like we said, we cannot have it both ways.

Quite simply, it’s the way it has always been.