By Scott Gilfoid: The WBA are reporting that they will be ordering IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to defend against mandatory Daniel Dubois next by 5:00 p.m. GMT today if the Usyk-Tyson Fury undisputed heavyweight clash isn’t made.
Given WBC champion Fury’s demands of a 70-30 split for Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) to agree to, we’ll see Dubois next for the unbeaten WBA champion.
Fury obviously can change all that by backing off from his insistence of a wide split, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be doing that because he’s not eager to face Usyk on April 29th.
The way Fury is strolling around, wearing fancy clothes, it doesn’t appear he’s been training for the fight with Usyk. Fury looks more like a Bon vivant than he does an active professional boxer. The good living of the rich & famous has changed Fury, making him a man about town, more involved with living a decadent lifestyle than staying active against the best fighters.
We see Fury carrying himself like an aristocrat and ducking Anthony Joshua and now Usyk. Heck, Deontay Wilder practically had to drag Fury kicking & screaming into the ring for their trilogy match in October 2021. Fury wanted no part of taking the third fight with the talented 6’7″ Deontay.
The Championships Committee had ordered Usyk-Dubois but this was vacated to give priority to Usyk-Fury.
The deadline expired last Friday and an extension was granted until today at 5 p.m.
Therefore, at the end of this period, the combat between Usyk and Dubois will be ordered.
— WBA Boxing (@WBABoxing) March 10, 2023
If the fight were made, Fury would have very little time to burn off the excess blubber he’s carrying around and build his cardio up for a fight that will be conducted at a fast pace.
Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs) was recently involved in a highly questionable fight with South African fringe contender Kevin Lerena on December 3rd on the Fury vs. Derek Chisora undercard at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London.
The 25-year-old Dubois was knocked down three times by the southpaw Lerena in the round, and it’s believed by some that the round ended early, which may have saved the badly hurt ‘Dynamite’ Daniel.
“If you don’t want it, you find a way not to do it, and the way to not do it is to say, ‘I want 70-30,”” said Eddie Hearn to ESBR Boxing when asked about his thoughts on Tyson Fury giving Oleksandr Usyk a 70-30, take it or leave it offer today for a fight on April 29th.
“I don’t think you’ll see Fury against Usyk next, which will be a big shame, but a very difficult man to deal with, as we’ve seen on many occasions,” said Hearn about Fury.
