Oleksandr Usyk is about for a second shot at undisputed in profitable again the title he ought to by no means have misplaced outdoors the ring.
World Boxing Information understands {that a} rematch with Daniel Dubois is now Turki Alalshikh’s number-one alternative following final weekend’s motion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With all 4 titles at stake, the conflict may occur within the area or the UK by June.
Dubois was freed up by a bout of sickness suffered in the course of the build-up to Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2, the place the Londoner was pressured to tug out of a battle with Joseph Parker. The February 22 occasion went on with out ‘DDD,’ who was considered one of two fighters who ultimately cried off the cardboard.
Usyk and Dubois may now meet for the second time following a knockout by the Ukrainian in August 2023 that got here with a contact of controversy over a low blow. Dubois thought he’d put Usyk on the canvas, just for the referee to name a foul. Usyk then took a number of minutes to get himself collectively.
UK followers wished Dubois to be declared the combat’s winner through KO after Usyk had defeated Anthony Joshua twice. Authorities dominated in favor of Usyk, who gained through TKO and beat one other Briton, Tyson Fury, in a second double triumph.
The heavyweight division has since grow to be cloudy as mandates pile up, with solely Dubois getting his shot when Joe Joyce, Zhilei Zhang, Parker, and, extra just lately, Agit Kabayel have all held interim titles.
Usyk Double-Header
A more than likely situation for Alalshikh to plot is a heavyweight double-header, which might see Usyk vs. Dubois accompanied by Parker vs. Kabayel in a semi-final, very like the Day of Reckoning card that ruined followers’ possibilities of seeing Deontay Wilder vs. Joshua in 2024.
Parker is already sad that he missed out on going through Dubois for the IBF title. The New Zealander shall be much more irritated that Dubois may now make a diversion and face Usyk for all of the gold.
Usyk’s face as Martin Bakole will get worn out by Jospeh Parker in two.
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— World Boxing Information (@WorldBoxingNews) February 23, 2025
Discussing the scenario in Saudi Arabia, Parker mentioned, “I believe there’s going to be a combat with Usyk and Dubois lined up as a result of everyone seems to be speaking about it now. Presumably, I’ll have yet another combat [likely Kabayel] earlier than preventing for the world championship. It sucks not preventing for the world championship.
“Since I misplaced it [the WBO title he won against Andy Ruiz] in 2018, I’ve been working onerous to get again to preventing for the title. To get an opportunity to combat for it [the IBF title], it vanishes in entrance of you two days earlier than the combat. At the moment, I didn’t care. I used to be centered on the combat date and staying switched on for whoever was going to be in entrance of me. Now the [Bakole] combat is completed, it doesn’t really feel proper,” he added.
The added stress of getting two interim champions, Parker [WBO] and Kabayel [WBC], offers Alalshikh a simple choice to appease two of the sanctioning our bodies.
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