Oleksandr Usyk has been ordered to face Daniel Dubois after the collapse of his clash with Tyson Fury.
Usyk was in negotiations to face Fury for the undisputed heavyweight titles with the fight set to take place on April 29 at Wembley Stadium. It was agreed Dubois would step aside after the WBA handed a deadline for the showdown to be agreed before they would take action.
However talks quickly collapsed after Usyk elected to walk away from the negotiating table following public demands from Fury on social media, including a 70/30 purse split and a dropping of the rematch clause. Now Usyk looks set to take on Dubois with a negotiating period now activated to arrange the meeting.
The WBA tweeted in an official statement: "The WBA Championships Committee ordered the bout between heavyweight Super champion Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois. The organisation sent the communication to the parties today with a 30-day negotiation period starting on April 4 and ending on May 2."
Dubois will be delighted to receive his shot having recovered from being beaten for the first time by Joe Joyce. The British star looked lacklustre in his last outing, being dropped on multiple occasions in a stoppage win over Kevin Lerena in which he suffered an injury to his leg.
It looked as if he may have suffered significant damage but has now recovered and will be fit to challenge the champion later this year. However the fight will likely now not take place until the summer, with Usyk leaving camp and returning to Ukraine after learning of the collapse of his clash with Fury.
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This will be the first of several defences Usyk could have to make of his crown before he is able to revisit undisputed negotiations, with Joyce and Filip Hrgovic also in the queue to be declared challengers to his belts. Deontay Wilder has also since overtaken Hrgovic in the IBF rankings and could be stated as a potential opponent with the fight having been heavily linked for several months.
In the meantime Dubois will get his call and the British star believes he has what it takes to land that big punch and become the man to dethrone Usyk. He told Pitch Boxing: “Why not go for the big one now? This is it, this is all the belts and the glory and everything that goes with it.
“So, I’m 100 per cent going for it and I believe I can knock him out. Just speed, belief, youth and strength. He’s never faced a fighter like me or been hit by a fighter like me. I think I can knock him out and bring them belts back.”
