The original plan was to feature WBO cruiseweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk on the Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs HBO pay-per-view undercard on March 18th at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
But now it looks like his next bout will come in the following month.Usyk lost his position on the card when Roman Gonzalez and Carlos Cuadras were matched in separate fights instead of facing each other in a rematch.
Tom Loeffler, the managing director of K2 Promotions, explained to BS.com on Thursday afternoon - "We lost a slot because of the (Carlos) Cuadras fight. If 'Chocolatito' (Roman Gonzalez) and Cuadras had fought we would have a slot for a fight with Usyk we were thinking about."
But Usyk will be back on U.S. airwaves soon after.
"After speaking with Peter Nelson (Executive Vice President of HBO Sports) at HBO he wants to feature Usyk again on a regular HBO broadcast instead of pay-per-view," said Loeffler. "So we're looking at some time in April for Usyk on an HBO broadcast."
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This being a voluntary defence..
Most recent WBO rankings.
1 Noel Gevor (International) ARM
2 Mairis Breidis LAT
3 Firat Aslan (WBO Europe) GER
4 Krzysztof Glowacki POL
5 Kevin Lerena SA
6 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk POL
7 Damir Beljo BA
8 Michael Hunter (NABO) USA
9 Maxim Vlasov RUS
10 Rakhim Chakhkiev RUS
11 Thabiso Mchunu SA
12 Dmitry Kudryashov RUS
13 Imre Szello (Int-Cont) HUN
14 Michal Cieslak POL
15 Olanrewaju Durodola NIG
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Who should he fight?
Oleksandr Usyk Return is Targeted For April Date, on HBO
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Ruthless-RKO
- Welterweight
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Re: Oleksandr Usyk Return is Targeted For April Date, on HBO
Hunter
There are several ranked guys who already have something scheduled, were beaten by Usyk, or are coming off a bad loss. The remaining options aren't mouthwatering, but Hunter makes sense to me as an unbeaten American. He's not the most proven as a pro, but he was an Olympian and I think despite his shallow resume he's among the best of those 15; I'd take him at this point over someone like shopworn Wlod, who struggled last fight with mediocre Leon Harth.
There are several ranked guys who already have something scheduled, were beaten by Usyk, or are coming off a bad loss. The remaining options aren't mouthwatering, but Hunter makes sense to me as an unbeaten American. He's not the most proven as a pro, but he was an Olympian and I think despite his shallow resume he's among the best of those 15; I'd take him at this point over someone like shopworn Wlod, who struggled last fight with mediocre Leon Harth.