International Boxing Federation President Daryl Peoples has confirmed that it’s not certain Oleksandr Usyk will lose his IBF heavyweight title.
Peoples spoke to Lance Pugmire of Boxing Scene this week to clarify the IBF’s position on reports that they will stripe Usyk in days. Usyk defeated Tyson Fury on Saturday night in a superb performance, cementing his legacy as the best top-division boxer of his generation. The Ukrainian is also the lineal champion and Pound for Pound king after unifying two weight classes of all four belts.
However, assumptions began almost immediately after the triumph that the IBF would pull the same move they did against Fury when the Briton toppled Wladimir Klitschko. Fury lost his IBF version within a week before Vyacheslav Glazkov and Charles Martin faced off for the vacant strap two months later.
WBN believed this wasn’t a certainty in several articles before and after Usyk’s win in Saudi Arabia, which People’s has since clarified is the case. People reiterated the IBF rules, but that gave hope to those who wanted to see Usyk remain the undisputed king of boxing.
“The rule is, you cannot have a clause in your contract that guarantees you a return bout that will interfere with your mandatory,” Peoples told Boxing Scene. “It’s not a secret among promoters. Everyone, more or less, knows the consequences of having those clauses. We’ve been down this road before.
“As far as the IBF rules go, any reigning champion is going to be able to ask for an exception. Any reigning champion can ask for an exception to any IBF rule. They have the right to.”
Asked by Pugmire if Usyk is sure to lose his championship, Peoples replied: “I don’t know.” Right now, Hrgovic-Dubois is not for any title. At this point. I’m sure people are making decisions behind the scenes before they approach me about anything.”
Those ‘decisions’ will be in the hands of His Excellency Turki Alalshkih, who – like the fans- will also want the undisputed title to remain intact for the Usyk vs Fury rematch. The Saudi Chairman’s powers of persuasion should see Hrgovic agreeing to an ‘interim’ title being on the line for the Dubois fight, with the promise that the Croatian will face Usyk for all the hardware.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
