Notebook: Usyk in talks for Dubois rematch but ordered to fight Parker
More on Dana White's boxing entrance; Okolie injured, fight off; M. Lara doping ban; TR signs amateur standout; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Lineal and unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s next fight is not scheduled yet but the fight he takes may very well impact which belts he will take into the ring whenever that next bout happens.
The WBO on Wednesday ordered Usyk to next make a mandatory defense against interim titleholder Joseph Parker, notifying Usyk promoter Alex Krassyuk of K2 Promotions and Parker promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions via email.
“Please be advised that the WBO World Championship Committee is hereby ordering the commencement of negotiations,” the letter said. “By virtue of this order, the WBO interim championship shall be terminated expeditiously in compliance with our institutional policy of only one world champion per weight class.”
The sides have 30 days to make a deal or a purse bid will be ordered. However, Usyk’s team is already in discussions for rematch with IBF titlist Daniel Dubois, so things could get dicey as it relates the belts.
“We are now working on this fight,” Krassyuk told Sky Sports in the United Kingdom this week, adding that London’s Wembley Stadium is a potential site.
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Turki Alalshikh figures to wield enormous influence over which fight happens because he has bankrolled recent Usyk, Parker and Dubois bouts through his position as the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.
Parker (36-3, 24 KOs), 33, of New Zealand, survived three knockdowns and won a majority decision over Zhilei Zhang to win the interim belt last March and has defended it once, a second-round knockout of Martin Bakole on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bakole took the fight on three days’ notice when Dubois pulled out claiming illness.
Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs), 38, a southpaw from Ukraine, outpointed Tyson Fury to unify the division and become the undisputed champion last May in the 2024 fight of the year and then outpointed him again in a December rematch — but minus the IBF title, which he was forced to vacate. Usyk was contractually obligated to fight Fury again rather than face IBF “interim” titlist Dubois in a mandatory bout for a fraction of the money. Besides, Usyk had already dominated and knocked out Dubois in the ninth round in August 2023, when Dubois was the WBA “regular” titlist and that body’s mandatory challenger.
However, Dubois has rebounded impressively from that defeat with three significant wins in a row, all by knockout. He took down unbeaten Jarrell Miller, unbeaten Filip Hrgovic to win the vacant IBF interim title and then, having been elevated to full titlist, obliterated former two-time unified titlist Anthony Joshua in his first defense in September at Wembley Stadium. Usyk owns two wins over Joshua, but both were by decision.
With Dubois rejuvenated, an Usyk rematch became plausible and Krassyuk entered talks with Queensberry, which also promotes England’s Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), 27. When those talks began, Usyk-Dubois II was contemplated for the undisputed title, but then the WBO made its order, putting the belt in jeopardy of being stripped if Usyk does not fight Parker next.
Dana White interview
If you missed the recent podcast episode that included my half-hour one-on-one interview with UFC president and CEO Dana White about his entrance into boxing promotion as the head of a new company that is a partnership between TKO, the parent company of UFC and WWE, and Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh and SELA, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, we broke it out separately and you can listen to it here. Give it a listen, a review, and also subscribe to get an alert when the next episode is available. New shows every Thursday and Sunday night (and occasional special episodes like this one).
ProBox TV appearance
I was the guest on ProBox TV’s “BoxingScene Today” with Jimmy Smith, Paulie Malignaggi and Chris Algieri to discuss our thoughts on UFC president and CEO Dana White’s entrance into boxing as a promoter and what it may mean for the sport’s landscape. Check out the spirited show here:
iFL TV appearance
I joined my pal Andrew McCart of iFL TV to discuss the deal between UFC and WWE parent company TKO with Turki Alalshikh of Saudi Arabia that will see them create a boxing promotional company that UFC boss Dana White will run. We also discussed Alalshikh’s May 2 Times Square tripleheader of Ryan Garcia-Rolando Romero, Devin Haney-Jose Ramirez and Teofimo Lopez-Arnold Barboza Jr. and their wild press conference earlier this week. Check out the video here:
Okolie injured, withdraws
Queensberry’s April 5 card at Co-op Live in Manchester, England, faces another injury pullout.
First, heavyweight Joe Joyce was left looking for a replacement — likely Filip Hrgovic — for the main event of the first show of Queensberry’s new deal with DAZN when Dillian Whyte withdrew with a hand injury.
Now it is Lawrence Okolie who has withdrawn from the co-feature due to a leg injury, a source with knowledge of the situation told Fight Freaks Unite.
Okolie (21-1, 16 KOs), 32, a former bridgerweight and cruiserweight titlist, was due for his third fight against countryman Richard Riakporhe (17-1, 13 KOs), 35, who is moving up following a decision loss to then-WBO cruiserweight titlist Chris Billam-Smith in their June rematch.
It remains to be seen if Riakporhe will remain on the card against a new opponent or if Queensberry and Boxxer, Riakporhe’s promoter, will look to reschedule the bout.
Lara banned for doping
Former WBA featherweight titlist Mauricio Lara was banned for two years by United Kingdom Anti-Doping on Wednesday.
UKAD announced that Lara failed a drug test related to his rematch with Leigh Wood in their May 27, 2023 rematch in Manchester, England. UKAD said Lara (28-3-2, 21 KOs), 27, of Mexico, tested positive for the banned substance Betamethasone when he provided a sample the day before the bout.
Lara, who stopped Wood in the seventh round of their first fight to win the belt, lost a unanimous decision and the title in the rematch three months later.
According to UKAD, Lara explained that the reason for his positive test result was due to receiving an injection of dexamethasone on May 12, 2023 following a shoulder injury suffered in sparring. UKAD said he provided a doctor’s letter.
However, UKAD had an independent scientific expert review the explanation and concluded that the administration of dexamethasone did not account for the substance being in his system. Asked if he any other explanation, UKAD said Lara did not offer one.
Lara is banned from all World Anti-Doping Code compliant sports in a ban backdated to March 7, 2024, which is the date of his provisional suspension, and will expire March 6, 2026.
Although Lara has won two fights in Mexico since the provisional suspension, UKAD said professional boxing there is not a World Anti-Doping Code-compliant sport so he was not deemed to have violated the terms of the provisional suspension.
TR signs amateur standout
Top Rank announced it has signed bantamweight Emmanuel Chance, 18, of East Orange, New Jersey, to a multi-year promotional contract. He will make his professional debut in a four-rounder against an opponent to be determined on the Mikaela Mayer-Sandy Ryan II undercard on March 29 at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. His bout will be part of the preliminaries on ESPN+.
“Emmanuel is an exceptional talent who has already accomplished so much. His style is suited to the professional ranks,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “I look forward to watching his professional debut, the first fight in a journey that I believe will include multiple world championships.”
Chance is managed by James Prince and co-promoted by Antonio Leonard. He has trained with three-division titlist Shakur Stevenson; won the USA Boxing Junior National Championships in 2021; the 2022 Youth National Championships; and the 2023 Brandenburg Youth Cup in Germany. Last November, he earned a silver medal at the under-19 World Boxing Championships.
“I am grateful and excited for the opportunity to showcase my skills,” Chance said. “This didn’t hit me until I visited the Top Rank offices and took everything in. So many legendary fighters have started their careers with Top Rank, and I want to follow in their footsteps.”
Quick hits
Weights from Tokyo for the Teiken Promotions card on Thursday (ESPN+, 5 a.m. ET): Kenshiro Teraji 111.75 pounds, Seigo Yuri Akui 112 (WBC/WBA flyweight unification); Anthony Olascuaga 111.75, Hiroto Kyoguchi 112 (for Olascuaga’s WBO flyweight title); Shokichi Iwata 108. Rene Santiago 107.5 (for Iwata’s WBO junior flyweight title).
The British Boxing Board of Control announced it has fined Chris Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 KOs) £100,000 for smashing an egg in the face of Conor Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) at their kickoff news conference on Feb. 25 in Manchester, England. “Following a hearing before the Stewards of the British Boxing Board of Control, Chris Eubank Jnr. was found to be in breach of Regulation 25 (misconduct) for his conduct at the press conference,” the BBBofC said in a statement. Eubank posted his response to the fine on social media: “Worth every penny.” The bitter rivals meet in an all-British mega middleweight fight on April 26 (DAZN PPV) at sold-out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, in a continuation of the legendary rivalry between their fathers, Chris Eubank Sr. and Nigel Benn, who fought twice in classic middleweight and super middleweight world title fights in 1990 and 1993.
Top Rank announced the addition of featherweight Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez (12-0, 7 KOs), 22, of Perris, California, and southpaw junior bantamweight Steven Navarro (5-0, 4 KOs), both top tier prospects, in eight-rounders on the Richard Torrez Jr.-Guido Vianello card April 5 (ESPN+) at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Gonzalez faces Australia’s Dana Coolwell (13-3, 8 KOs), 26, and Navarro, 20, of Los Angeles, fights Mexico’s Juan Esteban Garcia (14-1-2, 11 KOs), 27. Also added: middleweight Jahi Tucker (13-1-1, 6 KOs), 22, of Deer Park, New York, versus former British junior middleweight champion Troy Williamson (20-3-1, 14 KOs), 33, in a 10-rounder; welterweight Art Barrera Jr. (7-0, 5 KOs), 19, of Paramount, California, against a foe to be named in over six; Las Vegas junior lightweight DJ Zamora (15-0, 10 KOs), 21, against Hugo Castaneda (15-1-1, 11 KOs), 22, of Alamo, Texas, in an eight; and Los Angeles junior welterweight Sammy Contreras Jr., 20, a former amateur standout, makes his pro debut in a four-rounder.
Show and tell
IBF junior middleweight titlist Winky Wright, a defensive-minded southpaw, was a tremendously skilled boxer nobody of note wanted to fight. He posed too much risk for too little reward — until Shane Mosley gave him a chance. Mosley was coming off his second win over Oscar De La Hoya in which he unified the WBC and WBA titles and felt insulted by the $8 million offer to face De La Hoya for the third time. He declined the fight and instead opted to face Wright for millions less but for the opportunity to become the first undisputed 154-pound champion of the three-belt era. I covered the fight for USA Today at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, where I had my bachelor party the night before since my wedding was taking place two weeks later. I won’t get into the details of the party because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
As for the fight, Wright, the underdog, scored the biggest win of his career. He was at his best as he outworked the speedier and harder-punching Mosley in an entertaining and fast-paced bout to claim a unanimous decision, 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112. He would go on to outpoint fellow International Boxing Hall of Famer Mosley in an immediate rematch eight months later after Mosley invoked his contractual right to one, but their first fight took place on March 13, 2004 — 21 years ago on Thursday. Here is an exceptionally rare (though not all that attractive) site poster that hung in a Mandalay Bay light box during fight week in my collection.
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Photos: Usyk: Leigh Dawney/DAZN; Lara: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Teraji-Akui: Naoki Fukuda
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