After their latest heavyweight ruling, the World Boxing Association moved closer to finally having one sole champion per division.
President Gilberto Mendoza, who promised World Boxing News ten years ago that he would eradicate the ‘regular’ championship, is on course to follow through a decade later.
Mendoza recently outlined that only a few remain unsolved after intensive measures were introduced from the seventeen boxing weight classes in the WBA.
“The WBA path to Zero multiple champions report: Out of five divisions left, heavyweight and minimumweight are in the works. There will be announcements made soon,” confirmed the Panamanian.
Heavyweight ruling
Heavyweight moves came first as Tyson Fury lowballed his way out of an undisputed championship clash with Oleksandr Usyk.
After negotiations broke down following Fury’s unrealistic demands for a 70-30 split and 50-50 if he lost the first fight, Mendoza made another statement of intent.
“Usky vs Fury update: The WBA was notified the unification talks have stopped. The following step sees the championship committee request the [Daniel] Dubois medical report on his ACL injury.
“Once accurate information is received, the WBA will announce a decision on the matter.”
That decision came in early April when Usyk and Dubois were given just 30 days to find an agreement. The clash is tentatively set for the summer on UK soil.
The WBA stated that Usyk vs Dubois talks “will start this April 4 and will end next May 2 at the end of the day (-5 GMT).
“The WBA ordered the fight that corresponded in line with its world title reduction plan.”
They added: “If an agreement for Usyk-Dubois is not reached by May 2 or either side refuses to negotiate, the WBA could send the fight to an auction.
“This will be accompanied by a split of 75% for Usyk and 25% for Dubois.”
Usyk vs Dubois
Usyk has no problem traveling to the United Kingdom for the battle, as he has done around the world many times over.
“It will probably be Daniel Dubois at the end of the summer,” Usyk said on his next mone. “I will go to Britain. I love it very much.
“My first big achievements were in Britain. Then Anthony Joshua. I like this place. I like the fans, the people.”
It’s certainly not the fight the fans wanted. However, Usyk will again get to pit his wits against a hard hitter. It may be good preparation for a future encounter with Deontay Wilder.
But even if Usyk gets Dubois out of the way, he’s set to have the WBO and IBF breathing down his neck to make another mandatory.
Unless Usyk drops a title belt to get the Wilder fight over the line, the whole situation is a mess.
At least the WBA will get closer to their promise as boxing says good riddance to the ill-fated ‘regular” title that has polarized fans since 2011.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN. Follow WBN: Facebook, Insta, Twitter.
