With the heavyweight pision recently crowning its first undisputed champion in 25 years, one would expect order to be restored in boxing. Undefeated Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk is now the holder of all the legitimate titles, so all is right with the world, right? Mistaken!
Controversy continues to swirl around the IBF version of the championship. In the lead-up to Usyk’s epic 12-round split decision win over Tyson Fury in Riyadh on May 18, the winner was widely expected to relinquish or be stripped of the IBF title. This would allow Daniel Dubois and Filip Hrgovic to fight for the vacant crown on June 1, again in Riyadh. The winner of that fight could move on to a profitable showdown with Anthony Joshua later in the year.
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However, those plans were affected late last week when reported by The Ring’s Jake Donovan that Team Usyk had requested an exception to avoid being stripped of the IBF championship. Given that he has been trying to consolidate the heavyweight titles for years, you can understand Usyk’s position here. The 37-year-old southpaw hopes to defend the entire undisputed championship against Fury in their contractually agreed rematch either later this year or early next year.
So where does that leave Hrgovic and Dubois? Where does that leave AJ? The Jugo Mobile investigates:
Why would the IBF take the title away from Oleksandr Usyk?
In August 2022, Filip Hrgovic earned a 12-round unanimous decision victory over China’s Zhilei Zhang in Jeddah. That victory saw the Croatian star installed as the IBF mandatory challenger and he was in the perfect place for a world title shot.
However, due to the large amount of time it took for Fury and Usyk to meet for their undisputed championship fight, Hrgovic was left on the outside looking in. He has remained active, scoring knockout victories over Demsey McKean and Mark Di Mori, but the 31-year-old boxer and puncher is desperate for a title fight.
On Tuesday, when I was mentored by Charlie Parsons of The Stomping Ground that the vacant belt might not be on the line in his fight with Dubois, frustrations boiled over.
“What do you mean it’s not [for the vacant belt]?” -Hrgovic snapped. “It should be because of the belt, man, what are you talking about? It is. That’s what I heard. I mean, that was the plan from the beginning, so what’s changed now? I hope it’s because of the title. “That’s what they told me.”
The IBF has yet to confirm its position on the matter.
Will Anthony Joshua fight the winner of Dubois vs. Hrgovic?
If there is an opportunity to fight for a world title, then Joshua will surely take it. AJ harbors hopes of becoming a three-time heavyweight champion and a showdown with winner Dubois-Hrgovic was high on the priority list.
However, without a title on the line, Joshua may change course.
“The plan is for AJ to become a three-time world champion. Obviously, he wants to fight for the undisputed title again,” Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told The Jugo Mobile last week.
“Walk into [the Fury vs. Usyk] Going into the fight we knew that we would probably fight in September, we would probably fight the winner of Hrgovic against Dubois, but also with a remote possibility of fighting the winner of the undisputed, especially if it was Tyson Fury.
“It wasn’t, it was Oleksandr Usyk. They have a rematch clause and the rematch is a very, very big fight. The only way AJ can fight the winner of that fight is if someone is injured or not ready.
“The entire event [Joshua at Wembley] It will be huge. It will be six years since he last boxed at Wembley and if it’s for the world title it will be absolutely massive. There is still a lot of work to be done, but that is the hope and focus of AJ’s next fight.”
Stay tuned!
