Anthony Joshua has
been told by the WBO to fight undefeated Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk before
June 2020.
The British
heavyweight champion reclaimed his WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO titles from Andy Ruiz
Jr, following a unanimous point decision in Saudi Arabia.
And the WBO have
formally ordered the 30-year-old to challenge the organization’s number one
contender Usyk within the space of 180 days.
A letter sent to
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn from WBO reads:”The WBO World Championship
Committee hereby orders the parties herein to commence negotiations for the
above-mentioned WBO heavyweight mandatory championship contest,”
The WBO wrote in the
letter, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN wrote, “Please be advised that the
parties have 30 days upon receipt of this letter to reach an agreement. If an
accord is not reached within the time frame set forth herein, a purse bid will
be ordered pursuant with the WBO regulations of world championship
contests.”
Joshua has a
remarkable record of 23 wins and one loss with 21 of the them coming by the way
of knockout.
Usyk on the other hand
is unbeaten with 17 wins from 17 fights and 13 coming by the way of knockout,
which puts in a favourable position to become Joshua’s next opponent. Usyk who
dominated the cruiserweight division made his heavyweight debut on 12 October,
as he knocked out Chazz Witherspoon in the seventh round in Chicago.
The British
heavyweight fighter of Nigerian descent reclaimed his four belts after
defeating Andy Ruiz via unanimous point decision in Saudi Arabia last weekend.
