BoxRec

The orders have begun. On Wednesday, the WBO formally ordered Joshua to face the organization's No. 1 contender, Oleksandr Usyk, in a fight that is supposed to happen within 180 days.

The WBO sent a letter via email to Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua and co-promotes Usyk, as well as to Joshua, Usyk and Usyk co-promoter Alexander Krassyuk of K2 Promotions, formally ordering the bout.

Let's hope Usyk or Pulev take step aside money so the belts don't get further splintered. We all suspected that would happen. Will we ever see undistputed?

I do hope that they don't start splitting the belts again, but it depends on Pulev and Usyk mostly.

Making a AJ vs Pulev in my view opens up the door for Aj vs Fury down the line.

Best match up in the hw division!!

Pulev deserves the first crack. Usyk still has to prove himself at heavyweight, A win over Chazz Witherspoon does not put him at the top of the list.

oogiebe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 09:37 The orders have begun. On Wednesday, the WBO formally ordered Joshua to face the organization's No. 1 contender, Oleksandr Usyk, in a fight that is supposed to happen within 180 days.

The WBO sent a letter via email to Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua and co-promotes Usyk, as well as to Joshua, Usyk and Usyk co-promoter Alexander Krassyuk of K2 Promotions, formally ordering the bout.

Let's hope Usyk or Pulev take step aside money so the belts don't get further splintered. We all suspected that would happen. Will we ever see undistputed?

I think the consensus feeling is that, seeing as both are with Matchroom, AJ will probably drop the WBO so Usyk can fight for and hopefully win it and AJ will fight whoever for the IBF. Then an in-house unification £39.99 mega PPV extravaganza in Summer.

I googled the alphabet rankings and got this: https://box.live/world-rankings/heavyweight/

WBO rankings

CHAMPION: Joshua
1.) Usyk
2.) Fury
3.) Joshua
4.) Parker
5.) Kownacki
6.) Dubois
7.) Fa
8.) Hunter
9.) Romanov
10.) Schwarz

That's a sorry top ten if I ever saw one. Fury is a no go, so I assume we get Usyk- Parker, which is a good fight, for the vacant strap. The fact that Joshua appears to be the number 3 contender to himself means that probably the WBO are still waiting for the appropriate contribution to fill the number 3 spot, so that if Parker gets bitten by a spider again then somebody British and Matchroom can take his place, like Whyte (not ranked by the WBO) or Chisora (ranked 14). I think Chisora will suddenly jump up the rankings personally: he'll lose, but the fans like him and he'll sell the arse out of it.

IBF Rankings

CHAMPION: Joshua
1.) Pulev
2.) VACANT
3.) Kownacki
4.) Kabayel
5.) Joshua
6.) Fury
7.) Hunter
8.) Washington
9.) Hrgovic
10.) Povetkin

Again you've got AJ as a highly ranked contender to himself, and the second place vacant, so all it takes is for palms to be greased and you get whoever you pay for to be the mandatory. Pulev has been mandatory before and seemed not to be especially interested, so I could see Hunter (Matchroom fighter, seems up for anything) maybe getting the sudden bump up the rankings or maybe Dillian Whyte, now fully cleared and completely innocent, being installed as a replacement for the Bulgarian after his dazzling performance against Marius Wach last weekend.

To be honest, I don't mind it if they're both on the same bill. Boxing is the most cynical of sports. Fury-Wilder 2 should steal the show if it happens around the same time, but I don't trust those two at all. They made a great fight this time last year and then have basically just fucked around since then. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't fight.

This is a good thing. Usyk is the most compelling fight for AJ aside from Wilder/Fury, and by a pretty wide margin too.

jujigatame wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 10:25 This is a good thing. Usyk is the most compelling fight for AJ aside from Wilder/Fury, and by a pretty wide margin too.

I'd agree if Usyk wasn't coming off an injury and a weak first heavyweight opponent (Witherspoon). If Usyk loses he'll have excuses. Pulev on the other hand will have no excuses as he's been active in the division.

Who cares if it is "formerly". "Formally" would be a different thing.

boxing_rocks wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 12:09 Who cares if it is "formerly". "Formally" would be a different thing.

Thank you.

I hope Usyk beats AJ. Usyk seems hell bent to actually WANT to fight the other top guys. Something that very few other active fighters seem as motivated to do.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:31 I hope Usyk beats AJ. Usyk seems hell bent to actually WANT to fight the other top guys. Something that very few other active fighters seem as motivated to do.

I'm sure AJ will forego Usyk and drop the WBO belt in favor of facing Pulev. Shame it's come to this.

Not sure Usyk showed anything in his first heavyweight outing to suggest he can live with Joshua.

oogiebe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:32

gilgamesh wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:31 I hope Usyk beats AJ. Usyk seems hell bent to actually WANT to fight the other top guys. Something that very few other active fighters seem as motivated to do.

I'm sure AJ will forego Usyk and drop the WBO belt in favor of facing Pulev. Shame it's come to this.

Usyk will then fight for the vacant belt, and continue trying to pursue the Big 3. That's who he is as a fighter.

The whole why the WBO are ordering he get his shot is because he and his team are pressing the issue that they're supposed to be guaranteed a shot.

Usyk doesn't want people to THINK he's a great fighter. He wants to prove it.

Riddick Blowe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:34 Not sure Usyk showed anything in his first heavyweight outing to suggest he can live with Joshua.

I'm not sure either, but you gotta admire his willingness to fight the top guys.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:39

oogiebe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:32

I'm sure AJ will forego Usyk and drop the WBO belt in favor of facing Pulev. Shame it's come to this.

Usyk will then fight for the vacant belt, and continue trying to pursue the Big 3. That's who he is as a fighter.

The whole why the WBO are ordering he get his shot is because he and his team are pressing the issue that they're supposed to be guaranteed a shot.

Usyk doesn't want people to THINK he's a great fighter. He wants to prove it.

We'll see.

oogiebe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:46

gilgamesh wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:39

Usyk will then fight for the vacant belt, and continue trying to pursue the Big 3. That's who he is as a fighter.

The whole why the WBO are ordering he get his shot is because he and his team are pressing the issue that they're supposed to be guaranteed a shot.

Usyk doesn't want people to THINK he's a great fighter. He wants to prove it.

We'll see.

Whether or not he's actually able to beat any of them who knows, but I'll bet you he'll actually pursue the matchups, and will be obviously wanting to fight the Big 3 guys more than they will be wanting to fight each other.

Even if AJ turns down the fight with him, he'll be gunning for Wilder or Fury. Usyk won't want to rest on his laurels like the others.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:58

oogiebe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:46
We'll see.

Whether or not he's actually able to beat any of them who knows, but I'll bet you he'll actually pursue the matchups, and will be obviously wanting to fight the Big 3 guys more than they will be wanting to fight each other.

Even if AJ turns down the fight with him, he'll be gunning for Wilder or Fury. Usyk won't want to rest on his laurels like the others.

Until I see a match made with any of them, I'll temper my enthusiasm.

oogiebe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:59

gilgamesh wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:58

Whether or not he's actually able to beat any of them who knows, but I'll bet you he'll actually pursue the matchups, and will be obviously wanting to fight the Big 3 guys more than they will be wanting to fight each other.

Even if AJ turns down the fight with him, he'll be gunning for Wilder or Fury. Usyk won't want to rest on his laurels like the others.

Until I see a match made with any of them, I'll temper my enthusiasm.

All I'm saying is you'll be hearing about Usyk and his team banging the drum about wanting these big fights more than the others. Whether it's any easier for them to actually make the fight I don't know, but he'll be making a point of calling 'em out regularly I'll bet.

The guy can’t fight two contenders at once.

oogiebe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:59

gilgamesh wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:58

Whether or not he's actually able to beat any of them who knows, but I'll bet you he'll actually pursue the matchups, and will be obviously wanting to fight the Big 3 guys more than they will be wanting to fight each other.

Even if AJ turns down the fight with him, he'll be gunning for Wilder or Fury. Usyk won't want to rest on his laurels like the others.

Until I see a match made with any of them, I'll temper my enthusiasm.

I’d like Usyk to fight AJ too and think he’ll beat him, but you’re looking at this as boxing fans and not businessman. If AJ vacates then Usyk fights for the vacant belt and becomes a “two weight world champion” likely against a significantly less imposing opponent. Then he’s a very, very easy sell for unifications, especially in the UK where he’s actually pretty well known and liked. That ‘unification’ between AJ and Usyk would end up being massive and then you have the rematch or whatever. License to print money, basically. Usyk still needs to grow into heavy so this doesn’t do him any harm at all and AJ only just avenged a dreadful loss that had everybody write him off.

It is true, AJ vs Usyk is the fight everyone wanna see. And feels also more relevant for the HWs a Pulev-fight. Thou Pulev is pretty soild(would be Ko'd by AJ easy) but not a big name as Usyk.

clopixolacuphase wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 14:22

oogiebe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 13:59

Until I see a match made with any of them, I'll temper my enthusiasm.

I’d like Usyk to fight AJ too and think he’ll beat him, but you’re looking at this as boxing fans and not businessman. If AJ vacates then Usyk fights for the vacant belt and becomes a “two weight world champion” likely against a significantly less imposing opponent. Then he’s a very, very easy sell for unifications, especially in the UK where he’s actually pretty well known and liked. That ‘unification’ between AJ and Usyk would end up being massive and then you have the rematch or whatever. License to print money, basically. Usyk still needs to grow into heavy so this doesn’t do him any harm at all and AJ only just avenged a dreadful loss that had everybody write him off.

I am first a fan. I want the fights I want. Understanding the business side only gets me more frustrated with all of the big three. Matchmakers used to be onlly Matchmakers. Promoters used to be only promoters. THe lines have faded. We rarely get the fights we the fans want.

oogiebe wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 14:43 I am first a fan. I want the fights I want. Understanding the business side only gets me more frustrated with all of the big three. Matchmakers used to be onlly Matchmakers. Promoters used to be only promoters. THe lines have faded. We rarely get the fights we the fans want.

I do blame the networks for sign exclusive deals with fighters and promoters that get them stuck on one network, the PBC is sort of, working against this. I do see when the money is right that fights are made. Like MayPac.
This does also make it into more showbusiness with storylines around fighters that the promoters are selling. Shakur Stevenson is on exemple that comes to mind. Their ain't any ladder to claim, if their is one. It is pretty hard to tell with the other side of boxing that are the orgs.

Boxing is best sport and also the weirdest and most brutal.

chuck9788 wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 10:38

jujigatame wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 10:25 This is a good thing. Usyk is the most compelling fight for AJ aside from Wilder/Fury, and by a pretty wide margin too.

I'd agree if Usyk wasn't coming off an injury and a weak first heavyweight opponent (Witherspoon). If Usyk loses he'll have excuses. Pulev on the other hand will have no excuses as he's been active in the division.

Only that he’s pushing 40 years of age and fights on average once per year.