A long awaited undisputed heavyweight world title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury appears to be on the verge of finally happening in Saudi Arabia on December 23.
Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) who holds the IBF, WBA and WBO world titles collides with WBC champion Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) in Riyadh. However, certain mandatory obligations threaten all four belts being on the line in the Middle East.
Filip Hrgovic currently occupies the IBF mandatory position for Usyk’s title, the organisation being a stickler for maintaining all mandatory fights.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said recently that he will push for Anthony Joshua to face Hrgovic for a vacant title. ProBox TV spoke exclusively with IBF president Daryl Peoples to see where the governing body stand on allowing Usyk to skip his next mandatory so that all can see an undisputed heavyweight bout at the end of this year.
“To be fair to Eddie, when he said that it wasn’t untrue.” Peoples told ProBox TV. “Eddie made the comment before the new ratings come out. So what he said was true, there was a potential fight that Anthony Joshua would be involved in. But, right now we are anticipating Usyk and Fury. They have both come to an agreement which I am happy about. Some are a little unsure, but I’m 100 percent confident that fight will happen.”
I asked Peoples if the IBF belt will be on the line? Hard for anybody to query the upcoming clash on December 23 due to its recent history.
“100 precent the belt will be on the line.” Peoples answered. “However, the winner will have a mandatory obligation with the IBF and Hrgovic. I run the rankings, the managers and promoters are going to have to decide what they are going to do with that. That’s where that stands right now.”
