Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has been ordered by the WBO to begin negotiations for a mandatory bout against Joseph Parker.
Usyk-Parker was ordered in an email sent from WBO founder and chairman Luis Batista Salas to K2 promoter Alex Krassyuk and Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren , which was then shared as an official notice on the WBO website.
“Please be advised that the WBO world championship committee is hereby ordering the commencement of negotiations between [Usyk and Parker] to discharge the WBO mandatory championship obligation in the heavyweight division,” the WBO order stated. “By virtue of this order, the WBO interim championship shall be terminated expeditiously in compliance with our institutional policy of only one world champion per weight class.”
It has taken some time to arrive at that resolution. Usyk is the full WBO titleholder, while Parker, who is promoted by Queensberry, is in possession of the organization’s interim belt – which has been floating around since 2022, when it materialized for Joe Joyce-Parker, which Parker lost by knockout. The interim title eventually found its way back around Parker’s waist, and has been contested five times in two-and-a-half years.
The WBO has given Usyk’s promoters K2 and Parker 30 days to reach an agreement, after which it will send the fight to a purse bid.
Usyk, 23-0 (14 KOs), has been contemplating his next move since winning a unanimous decision against Tyson Fury in December – an immediate rematch following Usyk’s May 2024 split-decision win over Fury, which secured him the undisputed heavyweight title – and Parker hasn’t seemed to be among his top options.
On Wednesday, in fact, Krassyuk told Sky Sports that Usyk and team “are now working on” a fight with IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois. That fight – a rematch of Usyk’s 2023 knockout win over Dubois – would theoretically unify all four major heavyweight titles. That assumes that the WBO wouldn’t be moved to strip Usyk for failing to face Parker and resolve the interminable interim issue.
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.