Oleksandr Usyk ordered by WBO to face Joseph Parker

Oleksandr Usyk has been ordered by the WBO to face Joseph Parker.

Oleksandr Usyk may not be expected to make a WBA mandatory title defense for two years, but the WBO has other ideas.

The WBO has ordered Usyk to defend his WBO heavyweight title against interim champion Joseph Parker, giving the pair 30 days to come to an agreement before, in theory, purse bids would be ordered, which would surely be quite a battle between Turki Alalshikh and, I don’t know, Joe DeGuardia? “Wasserman Boxing”?

Usyk (23-0, 14 KO) holds the WBC title along with the WBA and WBO belts. It’s very possible that he has been ordered to face Parker (36-3, 24 KO) because the sides have basically already agreed to fight next, as Parker was already a leading contender to be Usyk’s next foe.

The 33-year-old Parker won the interim title from Zhilei Zhang in March 2024, and defended it successfully on February 22 on short notice against Martin Bakole. Parker was meant to face IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois that night, but Dubois withdrew late, and knocked out Bakole in the second round. He’s on a six-fight win streak after a loss to Joe Joyce in 2022.

David Higgins, who is technically still Parker’s promoter of record, tells Sky Sports that they “have no idea” if the fight will happen next, but that their side would “take it in a heartbeat.”

If the fight isn’t made for whatever reason, and there’s no deal made to delay it, either, Usyk would be stripped of the title.

Usyk last fought in December, defeating Tyson Fury for a second time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.