British Daniel Dubois (18-1, 17 KOs), who owns the WBA World heavyweight title, should get a title fight with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) ahead of other contenders, namely Croat Filip Hrgovic (IBF) and another Briton Joe Joyce (WBO), since it is the WBA that is first in line for Usyk’s mandatory defenses.
This was stated by Dubois’ coach, Shane McGuigan.
“He (Dubois) is the WBA ‘regular’ champion,” McGuigan recalls. “People can discredit this title for which we fought against Trevor Bryan. But this does not change the fact that Dubois holds the world title, which greatly strengthens his position.
“We’re next in line for Usyk,” Shane says. “Usyk also has other belts, but the WBA is first on the list (the order of mandatory defenses in the case of the Ukrainian), which means Daniel should get the fight (with Usyk) first.”
Note that earlier the WBA priority was confirmed by the promoter of the Ukrainian Oleksandr Krasyuk. In IBF, however, they do not agree – they demand a fight with Hrgovic from Usyk.
And we also recall that on December 3, Dubois is scheduled to defend his title against former cruiserweight fighter from South Africa Kevin Lerena.
Meanwhile, in England, they believe that Usyk can completely “throw out” the IBF belt.
Source:
Sky Sports