The initial deadline set by the WBA for the teams of Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois to come to terms for a fight has been and gone.
After ‘completing’ the cruiserweight division, Usyk moved up to heavyweight and has become unified champion in just three fights. A second statement performance over Anthony Joshua cemented his status.
Despite his sole desire to become undisputed in this weight class after doing so down at 200lb, negotiations with the division’s other champion, Tyson Fury fell apart. In the wake of that, Usyk confirmed he would serve his mandatory obligations.
Dubois became WBA Regular Champion and mandatory challenger with a victory over Trevor Bryan in June of last year. He defended this position with a heart-thumping victory over Kevin Lerena in December.
Because of that, the 25-year old has found himself in potentially the most lucrative position the sport can offer. A statement from the WBA, released on April 4, read:
“The official communication was sent to the parties on Monday. The teams of both fighters will have 30 days to negotiate, which will start this April 4 and will end next May 2 at the end of the day (-5 GMT).”
The fight was ordered on December 12 of last year, but the sanctioning body agreed to allow talks for the undisputed fight with Fury to take place in the hope of seeing a legacy-defining four-belt champion. Fans all know how that went.
Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, today told Boxing Social that the teams were still in discussion as they awaited action from the WBA.
“We are waiting for WBA to set up the day of the purse bids. Meanwhile we are taking efforts to reach an agreement.”
Krassyuk confirmed that the general idea was still to stage the fight in late July or early August. Boxing Social has reached out to the WBA for comment.
Where it lands depends entirely on who has control of the promotion, with Usyk’s side keen to explore options in Poland whilst Queensberry will undoubtedly look to have it in England.
The Ukrainian’s promoter has been open about his ideal plan for the year being a Dubois victory followed by revisiting the Fury talks in the hopes of a Middle East mega fight.