Oleksandr Usyk’s promotor has revealed that they are waiting to hear from Anthony Joshua after the May 31st deadline for the heavyweight champion to face his mandatory challenger passed.
Joshua was initially due to fight Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia, a fight which would have given the heavyweight division an undisputed champion. However, with Deontay Wilder refusing to back down from a trilogy fight, Fury was forced to abandon plans to face AJ.
As reported by Sky Sports, Joshua was then ordered by the WBO to face Oleksandr Usyk, a fight he was given until May 31st to make happen, with Eddie Hearn confirming that the options were either to fight the Ukranian or vacate the belt.
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We are still, in truth, no closer to discovering which of those options AJ is going to take. Usyk’s promotor, Alexander Krassyuk, told Sky Sports that they two are waiting to hear from Joshua’s camp.
“We are waiting for King AJ’s decision whether he is brave enough to get dethroned.”
When quizzed by Sky Sports as to whether Joshua would look past Usyk and instead consider other options, Krassyuk replied, “I have no idea at the moment. We are expecting his decision.”
One way or another, we’d expect to have an answer from AJ’s side soon.
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