Tyson Fury's quest to win the undisputed heavyweight title could be facing yet another setback as Oleksandr Usyk has been ordered to face a new mandatory challenger.
The unified WBA, WBO and IBF champion defeated Anthony Joshua in an August rematch to secure his belts, but has gone over a year as champion without entertaining any mandatory challengers. And promoter Eddie Hearn, who works alongside Usyk's promoter Alexander Krassyuk to televise the Ukrainian's fights, has now received written orders for him to face Filip Hrgovic.
The IBF have ordered Hrgovic as their next mandatory for one of Usyk's three major belts, which he holds along with the Ring Magazine title and the less prestigious IBO belt. He was the WBO's mandatory for Joshua when they first fought last year, and Joshua had just beaten the WBO's mandatory Kubrat Pulev the previous December.
Given the WBA have another champion in Daniel Dubois, who holds the 'regular' belt to Usyk's 'super' title which he won this year from Trevor Bryan as a mandatory challenger himself, they are skipped over in the rotation. Now, for the first time since 2020, the IBF have the next mandatory for the unified belts.
Hearn tagged the Sauerland Brothers, who promote Hrgovic under the Wasserman Boxing banner in a tweet saying "just received written order from IBF for Champion Oleksandr Usyk to face mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic next... Let's go!" When a fan joked that he should "have a day off," he hit back by saying "you know that’s not my style," alongside a winking emoji.
Would you rather see Oleksandr Usyk fight Tyson Fury or Filip Hrgovic? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
The Sauerlands quote tweeted Hearn's message with a simple "let's go" message, before adding: "CONFIRMED: El Animal Filip Hrgovic is next for Oleksandr Usyk for the heavyweight championship - by official order of the IBF. Let's get the show on the road."
Fury won't be concerning himself too much with Usyk as he prepares to face Derek Chisora next month at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. But there is a belief that he will face his fellow heavyweight champion early next year should he get through Chisora as planned.
Fortunately for Fury, undisputed fights tend to take precedence over mandatory challenges. As such, unless Hrgovic's team can get a deal together quickly to force Usyk into the ring early next year, it's likely that Fury would still be able to fight for the undisputed title in April as planned.
