Tyson Fury’s Plan to Fight Oleksandr Usyk Derailed After IBF Ordered Ukrainians to Face Filip Hrgovic | boxing news
Tyson Fury’s plans to fight Oleksandr Usyk were scuppered after Filip Hrgovic’s team announced that he would challenge the Ukrainian next.
Fury had hoped to finish the world heavyweight title fight in early 2023, but the IBF ordered Usyk to make a mandatory title defense against Hrgovic, according to Croatia promoter Kalle Sauerland.
Hrgovic climbed off the canvas to beat Zhilei Zhang by points in the IBF title elimination final on the basis of Usyk’s rematch win over Anthony Joshua in September.
Unified Champion Oleksandr Usyk holds the IBF, WBA and WBO đai belts
Sauerland tweeted: “CONFIRMED: El Animal @Filip_Hrgovic is next for @usykaa for the Heavyweight Championship – by official order of @IBFUSBAboxing. Let’s start the show on the road.”
Usyk confirmed last month that he is in talks about defending his WBA, IBF and WBO titles against WBC champion Fury.
The British star is currently preparing for his WBC title defense against Derek Chisora on December 3.
Usyk once expressed his desire to confront Fury
“Right now my team is looking for conversations with Tyson Fury, and he’s really unpredictable, so we can’t guarantee when,” Usyk said.
“For me, the idea might be to fight in early February or early March, like March 4, because I’m an orthodox Christian.
“During the Great Lent before Easter, I don’t fight, so it should be before or after orthodox Easter (April 16).
“I want to fight Fury because I need a fourth belt and I don’t want to fight anyone else until I have a fourth.”
