By Gerardo Romero
May 25, 2024, 12:05 PM EDT
The Ukrainian boxer and recently crowned as the new undisputed heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, asked the International Boxing Federation (IBF) for the possibility of retaining his title in order to become the top monarch of his division in a possible rematch that star against the British Tyson Fury.
These requests were made by the fighter who managed to win the title recently in his confrontation against Fury in the face of growing rumors about the decision made by the International Boxing Federation to strip him of his belt for failing to fulfill his obligations as champion; For this reason, the Ukrainian requested that the organization’s directors change their decision in order to maintain its center.
The information about this fact was made known by the BoxingScene portal, who detailed that the president of the FIB himself, Daryl Peoples, notified them that Usyk made said request this Friday in order to keep the championship belt; “He did it less than a week after his split decision win over Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,” the text adds.
The decision to take away the title of heavyweight champion in his organization is due to the fact that Usyk is obliged to face Filip Hrgovic as a mandatory challenger to continue carrying his scepter in the next fight or else it would be taken away from him; This is in case of first facing a rematch against Tyson Fury, but the same leader was in charge of revealing that an exception could be made if the boxer requested it.
This fact could represent positive news for Hrgovic because the fighter would have a greater number of months to train and improve his combat capabilities to triumph against Usyk and thus be able to take the champion title from him.
For his part, Oleksandr Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, stated that the petition to the International Boxing Federation has already been presented and now we only have to wait for the organization’s directors to make a decision on the matter.
“We are waiting for a decision to be made. I think it’s more important now for Tyson Fury, not Oleksandr. Oleksandr is twice unified [crucero y pesado] and if the next fight is only for the three belts, I don’t think it will be fair for either of us,” the agent told BoxingScene.
“But in terms of importance (of the four titles being at stake), I think it is more important that Fury gets this title. Imagine if Fury wins: he won’t be uncontested, so he’s missing the opportunity. The rematch, the clause, was so that both had the opportunity to be undisputed. I hope the IBF makes the right decision,” he concluded.
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