Fans may have already heard that Oleksandr Usyk, the WBA and WBO heavyweight champion, has been ordered by IBF to defend his belt. Usyk will be facing Filip Hrgovic, who is the mandatory challenger. Hrgovic is refusing to let Usyk fight, so there are many bids. Tyson FuryIn a fight that would be open to all four belts next year (Fury being the current WBC champ),
So Usyk is faced with two options. He can either fight Hrgovic or he can vacate the belt. Usyk has stated that he does not want to fight anyone but Fury, so it is possible that Usyk decides to give up the IBF strap. What would happen if this were to be true? Fans are already looking at IBF heavyweight rankings. They read as follows:
Hrgovic is number 1; the number 2 spot is currently vacant. Andy Ruiz, number 3, and Anthony Joshua are currently ranked at number 4.
Could it be that AJ fights Hrgovic to win the vacant IBF title As far as we know, Ruiz is all set to fight Deontay Wilder In a final eliminator to win the WBC heavyweight title. Joshua, who hasn’t won a fight in almost two years could be on his way to a world title. This is boxing, people!
A Hrgovic-Joshua bout would be a good one. Pretty much a 50 – 50 fight; with Joshua coming off those two losses to Usyk and Hrgovic looking pretty ordinary in his IBF final eliminator win over Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang. Both men can bang, and both have a strong amateur background. Joshua and Hrgovic have also been in some exciting fights. Who will win if Joshua meets Hrgovic? Perhaps you view the fight as a toss up?
Now is the time to wait and see. Oleksandr Usyk He may decide to do it, but he has made it very clear that he wants Fury to fight. Perhaps Usyk and Fury will fight next year for three of four world heavyweight titles.