Oleksandr Usyk has had his next fight date set.
The undisputed cruiserweight World champion, who also holds the Ring Magazine belt in the division, will return to the ring sooner rather than later.
Usyk, who is co-promoted by K2 and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport and managed by Egis Klimas, hasn’t boxed since last November’s eighth-round knockout win over Tony Bellew at the Manchester Arena, exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office.
And the aforementioned Hearn revealed over the weekend that details for the Ukrainian’s next showdown will be made public soon.
“The next fight date is booked,” Hearn wrote on social media, accompanied by a video of Usyk dancing on the beach while on holiday.
Usyk has been touted as a potential future opponent for WBA Super, IBO, IBF and WBO World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, should he move up in weight during the next 12 months.
Alexander Krassyuk of K2 has hinted that Usyk’s business at cruiserweight is pretty much done and that it’s more likely he will test his skills against a former world heavyweight champion in the coming months.
“At the present moment, we are negotiating with no one,” he told the Ukrainian media. “Usyk and his team are presently having a much-needed rest. But I can already tell you that we are experiencing problems finding a suitable opponent.
“[Ex-WBO king Joseph] Parker and [potential Joshua foe Jarrell] Miller both refused to fight Oleksandr, [former Joshua challenger Carlos] Takam has called out Dereck Chisora and [Dillian] Whyte will most probably fight Joshua in April.”
Hearn said recently that he would like to know within the next week to 10 days what is happening regarding Joshua and his April 13 date at Wembley Stadium.
“We have only Alexander Povetkin and Luis Ortiz left amongst the top-notch heavyweights,” Krassyuk continued. “We have a 70% chance that Oleksandr fights one of them in his first bout as a heavyweight.”
Further details will be revealed in due course.
Article by: Elliot Foster