Joseph Parker may soon get another crack at world honors.
The WBO on Wednesday night officially ordered its heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who also holds the WBA and WBC titles, to defend his championship against the interim titleholder next.
Usyk and Parker have 30 days to reach an agreement for the ordered mandatory defense, or the WBO will schedule a purse-bid hearing for the contest.
New Zealand’s Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) previously held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016-18. He lost it to Anthony Joshua in a three-belt unification fight in Cardiff in 2018. Parker rebuilt his standing with a string of wins, including back-to-back decisions over Derek Chisora, to earn a shot at the WBO interim title against Joe Joyce in 2022, but was ultimately knocked out by the Brit in the 11th round.
Since then, Parker has put together a six-fight unbeaten run that includes upsets over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. Most recently, Parker stopped late-replacement Martin Bakole in just two rounds in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) is Uncrowned’s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world. The Ukrainian is one of only three fighters to have held an undisputed title in two weight classes in the four-belt era. Usyk became undisputed heavyweight champion in May 2024, defeating Tyson Fury by split decision. He then repeated the win in December by unanimous decision in his most recent outing.
Usyk has expressed his desire to rematch IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois next in a bid to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion. The pound-for-pound king’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, revealed to Sky Sports earlier on Wednesday that talks were underway for Usyk vs. Dubois 2.
“We are now working on this fight [Usyk vs Dubois 2],” Krassyuk said. “Wembley [Stadium is] one of the options [to host the fight].”
The WBO’s order has now presented a stumbling block in the way of Usyk vs. Dubois 2. Should Usyk choose to vacate the WBO title in pursuit of a Dubois rematch, the WBO would likely upgrade Parker to full world champion and could order him to face the organization’s No. 1 contender, Australia’s Justis Huni, in what would be a Trans-Tasman clash for the world title.
