Joseph Parker’s team have welcomed news that the World Boxing Organisation has ordered Oleksandr Usyk to defend his world heavyweight title against the Kiwi in his next fight.
However, they are preparing for several eventualities — including a potential bout against Australian Justis Huni should Usyk elect to vacate the title or have it taken away.
Usyk, the undefeated Ukrainian who became the first unified heavyweight champion in a generation when he beat Tyson Fury for all the belts last year (only to be stripped of the IBF title when he elected to fight Fury in a rematch), is already in negotiations to fight Daniel Dubois to unify the titles again.
Dubois, the mandatory challenger, was the ultimate beneficiary of the IBF’s move after he demolished English rival Anthony Joshua for the belt last September.
Even without the WBO world title on the line, a Usyk versus Dubois bout at Wembley Stadium would make financial sense for both and may be the route that Usyk takes.
That would likely leave Parker — who won the WBO world championship as a 24-year-old in Auckland in 2016, and has been the WBO’s "interim world champion" for more than a year — fighting the next man on the list for the title. That happens to be the undefeated Huni, a promising 25-year-old.
That fight could happen in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom or Saudi Arabia.
"It’s fantastic for Joseph," Parker’s manager David Higgins told 1News today. "It underlines the work he has done and progress he has made in the last year in particular."
The promoters of Parker and Usyk have 30 days to negotiate a deal before it goes to "purse bids", but such talks will be meaningless if Usyk's team fail to engage. In that case, the WBO will likely strip him of his title.
There are other scenarios in the fast-moving world of professional boxing — as exemplified with Parker fighting Dubois for the IBF world title in Riyadh last month, only for Dubois to pull out claiming illness and the New Zealander knocking out replacement Martin Bakole inside two rounds.
Should talks between Usyk and Dubois fall over, Parker could step in and fight the Englishman for the IBF title at Wembley.
"It shakes things up," Higgins said of the news. "From Parker’s perspective, I can confirm that he just wants to fight for the title. He doesn’t care who, where or when – whether it’s Usyk or Dubois, it doesn’t matter. We just have to sit back and wait for the cards to fall."
Asked what his "gut feel" was in terms of what Usyk might do, Higgins said: "I’m not the promoter but, in boxing, money is historically the biggest incentive… Usyk v Dubois to unify made sense because it would make a fortune.
"This [WBO order] throws a bit of a spanner in the works but that’s still probably the biggest cash pile. But you just don’t know what goes on behind the scenes – anything could happen."
Parker’s many fans and friends around the world have welcomed the WBO order for Usyk to face Parker, including former WBC world champion Fury, who posted an approving message on social media.
Many felt Parker — on the brink of fighting for his second world title until Dubois cried off 48 hours before their bout in Riyadh only to begin negotiating a fight with Usyk — was short-changed, given his recent form of six consecutive victories and the patience he has shown.
Higgins said: "It’s been a massive comeback — his last three wins have been against feared bogeymen of the division that nobody wanted to fight.
"Deontay Wilder followed by Zhilei Zhang followed by Bakole. He beat them comprehensively and consecutively in just over a year. It’s a pretty unprecedented run in the modern era."
There is, too, little doubt that Huni would be Parker’s simplest route to becoming a two-time world champion.
Huni, undefeated after 12 professional fights, has never faced someone of the calibre of Parker — a man with a 36-3 record who has fought around the world from Invercargill to Manchester in England and many points in between, including Germany, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Parker’s last four fights have been in Riyadh while Huni has mainly fought in New South Wales and Queensland.
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