After Oleksandr Usyk’s win over Daniel Dubois this past weekend, the predicable calls for a long overdue undisputed clash with Tyson Fury surfaced once again.
For that to happen, an exception would have to be made for Usyk to delay a fight with mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic, which has been ordered by the IBF.
And in a recent interview with Boxing Social, Eddie Hearn – who co-promotes Hrgovic alongside Wasserman Boxing – explained why that is unlikely to happen.
“To get an exception, which is what Usyk would have to do to not fight Hrgovic, you can’t really have one of the fighters have a fight coming up.”
“That fight will be ordered this week in my opinion, Usyk against Hrgovic. Usyk will have the opportunity to request an exception to fight someone else. The only person that exception would be granted for is probably Tyson Fury, but because he already has a fight scheduled, you can’t ask for an exception.”
“I think we should just get the fight done. Get the fight made for December, we like Hrgovic’s chances. We’re ready to make that fight.”
Hearn is of course referring to Fury’s upcoming fight with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, which will take place on October 28 in Saudi Arabia, though ‘The Gypsy King’s WBC world heavyweight title will not be on the line.
Boxing fans could be forgiven for losing hope that a legacy defining four-belt unification between Usyk and Fury will ever take place, given the multiple failed negotiation stages that have already occurred.
Both teams remain confident that it will take place in early 2024, but, as things stand, both may have a fight in between now and then.