World Boxing News addresses several reports that the British Boxing Board of Control has suspended Oleksandr Usyk until July 2, 2024.
Some outlets raised the flag over the Ukrainian superstar and king of boxing shortly after his superb victory over Tyson Fury at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Usyk dominated Fury with pressure and poise for nine of the twelve rounds and bludgeoned him around the ring in the ninth round. In the end, Usyk was on the right end of highly contentious scoring as an obvious unanimous decision came back as a split.
Nonetheless, the correct fighter won, and boxing moves on to a rematch later this year. However, Usyk must have been surprised by reports of a BBBofC suspension, as the new undisputed heavyweight champion didn’t fight under their jurisdiction on Saturday night. Usyk held a Middle Eastern Commission license for the fight, meaning the BBBofC ban mentioned on BoxRec was a mistake.
WBN checked back on Wednesday and saw BoxRec has amended the suspension to the UAE Commission, of which Tyson Fury did not get a similar flag. The six-week block by the UAE commission can only be due to Usyk’s injuries suffered during the Fury fight. There’s no other reason for the temporary order.
Usyk suffered a cut during the contest, which Fury didn’t, meaning the UAE Commission acted because the “Cossack Warrior” had stitches. Those suspensions are commonplace in the sport, with six months specified for fighters knocked out in their previous bouts.
With a rematch lined up for between October and December, Usyk will have no constraints and will again compete alongside Fury under the same Commission. Whether the four-belt ruler will have all his championships intact remains up in the air.
Filip Hrgovic holds the future of Usyk’s IBF title in his hands as the mandatory challenger. If the Croatian doesn’t agree to step aside in favor of an interim title clash with Daniel Dubois on June 1, Usyk will lose one of his belts in the coming days.
The International Boxing Federation should make a final decision public before fight week begins in Saudi Arabia on Monday. It’s hoped Turki Alalshikh will persuade Hrgovic to sit out a title challenge for one more fight and then contest the undisputed title against Usyk in the first quarter of 2025.
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.
