Signs continue to point towards an undisputed heavyweight title fight on the horizon as ESPN reports that perhaps the biggest obstacle — Oleksandr Usyk being Anthony Joshua’s mandatory challenger — won’t be a problem as Usyk has gone forward with entertaining negotiations to face Joe Joyce for the WBO’s interim title.
Adam Morallee, who’s part of Joyce’s management team, say they’re currently in talks with Usyk and seems plenty confident that they’ll land a deal.
“It looks like a fight for the WBO interim title is what will happen next, and securing a fight with Usyk is our priority,” Morallee told ESPN. I think Usyk should be Joe’s next fight and in terms of timing I think it happens in the second quarter of this year. I understand the WBO has stipulated they have to fight in five to six months.”
Morallee would continue by saying the WBO are happy to rubber stamp this match because they want to keep their titles ‘active.’ Buy that if you want, but in this instance I’m really not complaining if it leads to the much bigger and more significant fight in the heavyweight. Fingers crossed we should have confirmation of both Fury-Joshua and Usyk-Joyce sooner than later.