The World Boxing Organisation has announced that Anthony Joshua will go head to head with Oleksandr Usyk to defend his WBO title.
Okay.ng recalls that Joshua had last week reclaimed the WBA, IBF, and WBO belts after defeating Andy Ruiz Jr in a re-match.
The re-match hosted in Saudi Arabia saw Joshua winning with a unanimous 118-110, 118-110, 110-109 verdict.
Following the fight, the WBO president, Francisco Varcarcel, in a letter said that Joshua must take on Ukranian Usyk within 180 days of Saturday’s win.
The letter reads, “The WBO World Championship Committee hereby orders the parties herein commencement of negotiations for the above-mentioned WBO heavyweight mandatory championship contest.
“Please be advised that the parties have 30 days upon receipt of this letter to reach an agreement.
“If an accord is not reached within the time frame set forth herein, a purse bid will be ordered pursuant with the WBO regulations of world championship contests.”
With this development, Joshua will now have to face the prospect of defending his WBO title before June 4th.
If he does not go ahead with the fight against the Ukrainian former cruiserweight king before January 10, he will be forced to vacate his belt, dealing a setback to his hopes of adding the WBC crown.
