JAKARTA The World Boxing Association (WBA) has set a time limit for Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury until April 1, 2023 to sign an indisputable heavyweight title fight duel contract.
WBA President Gilberto Jesus Mendoza on Sunday, March 19 yesterday, said that a title consolidation battle would be proposed if the two rulers of all the heavyweight belts did not complete their negotiations.
"The time for the WBA to receive the signed fight contract is April 1. Otherwise, mandatory negotiations will be made for Usyk," said Mendoza as quoted by Boxing Scene.
British boxer Daniel Dubois of (19-1, 18KO) is the holder of the WBA 'Regular' heavyweight title to be faced by Ukraine champion Usyk (20-0, 13KO) if there is no title unification battle with Fury.
Usyk holds the WBA 'Super' heavyweight title along with the IBF and WBO belts. He has an obligation to defend the titles attached to the three belts.
Meanwhile, Fury who came from Manchester (33-0-1, 24KO) is the defending champion of WBC and world champion. He is currently in the phase of defending his title voluntarily without any mandatory challenger from the WBC.
Fury fulfilled his WBC obligation with a knockout victory in the sixth round over Dillian Whyte on April 23 at Wembley Stadium. He continued this feat against Derek Chisora in their third meeting last December 3 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The third win over Chisora also marked Fury's success in defending his third title. He has held the WBC belt since being stopped in the seventh round by Deontay Wilder in their rematch in Las Vegas in February 2020.
As is known, Dubois and Fury are currently promoted by Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions. So far Queensberry has not imposed a mandatory reporting status for Dubois.
The Hall of Fame promoter also has a WBO heavyweight title holder while Joe Joyce (15-0, 14KO) and 2016 Olympic Silver medalist. The unbeaten London boxer will face Zhang Zhilei on April 15 at the Copper Box Arena, Hackney Wick.
The date targeted for the Usyk and Fury duels is April 29 at Wembley Stadium, London. That means, the deadline is only less than six weeks to announce the duel.
The previous March 10 deadline had been set by the WBA to host the fight before ordering a pending Usyk-Dubois title consolidation bout.
Both sides have contacted the sanctions agency just before the specified deadline and said they agreed to a 70-30 percent share of the prizes for Fury's win.
This provision has not yet reached the agreement signed by both parties. Until now, negotiations have been slow so that doubts appear that the duel can be held in April.
Usyk won the second division title after beating Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22KO) in the race for the WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight titles in September 2021 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The only fight to defend his title is a re-win over Joshua through a split decision on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The two wins made Usyk 9-0 in the race for titles in two divisions. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist previously became the undisputed cruiserweight champion before rising to heavyweight in 2019.
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