Oleksandr Usyk has been ordered by the WBA to fight against Daniel Dubois in his next fight following the collapse of a deal which would have seen him fight against Tyson Fury.
Dubois has been the mandatory challenger to Usyk's title as holder of the WBA (Regular) world title, but had stepped aside to allow negotiations for fellow Frank Warren client Fury to take place. However, with the deal having fallen through due to 'greedy' demands on the part of Fury, the WBA have ordered the fight take place between Dubois and Usyk.
Dubois is one of three men who currently holds a world title in the heavyweight division, albeit with his regular belt holding less prestige than the 'super' title held by Usyk as awarded by the World Boxing Association. This means that a fight between the pair must happen to unify the WBA division and set the winner up for a potential super-fight before the end of the year.
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Dubois was rocked in the first round as he defended his belt against South Africa's Kevin Lerena in December and Usyk would present a far higher standard of opponent as the current pound for pound rankings leader in world boxing. A statement was released on Monday by the sanctioning body confirming that the fight must take place and that negotiations should begin.
The statement read: "The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee ordered negotiations for the world title fight between Super Heavyweight Champion Oleksaandr Usyk and Champion Daniel Dubois.
"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 between Usyk and Dubois had been ordered since last December 12, but in the process a period of time was granted for Usyk to negotiate the unification fight with Tyson Fury; however, that fight could not be agreed due to differences between the teams and now the WBA orders the fight that corresponded in line with its world title reduction plan.
"Dubois suffered the knee injury in his most recent bout last December 3 against Kevin Larena. Despite winning, he came out of the fight hurt and having difficulty walking.
"The WBA sent a request for a health report to Dubois and his team, which was received on Thursday, March 30. The report, signed by London-based physician James Witthicase, says Dubois is ready to do any physical activity, run, carry weight and feels no pain in his knee.
"If an agreement for Usyk-Dubois is not reached by May 2 or either side refuses to negotiate, the WBA could send the fight to auction with a split of 75% for Usyk and 25% for Dubois.
This leaves the likelihood of Anthony Joshua facing a likely summer fight against Dillian Whyte before a fight in the winter against either the winner of this contest or even Fury. However, with the self-styled Gypsy King having demanded a 70:30 split to face Usyk, negotiations with the WBC champion could become complicated and leave Joshua to explore other avnues.
This opens the potential of a fight against Deontay Wilder for either Fury or Joshua, with the added complication of Joe Joyce vs Zhilei Zhang for the right to become WBO interim champion. This would likely lead to a fight between the winner having to face the winner of Usyk vs Dubois, leaving the big unification bouts delayed even further in an increasingly complicated heavyweight boxing landscape.
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