You just know that puny Usyk will get his grubby hands on that wbo belt when it's given up. I hope the bodybuilder snatches it back off him, again. Hope we don't have too many paper champions.
Why would he vacate though? I'd just call their bluff and see if they strip him. They would be mad not to have their belt attached to a cash cow like Joshua.
But is their sanctioning fee not fixed or is it a percentage? If it is a percentage I assume it would be a percentage up to a certain limit, in which case if Usyk can generate sufficient cash to reach that limit there is no real benefit to Joshua holding the belt. Edit: Found this posted on the general so don’t know how true this is (ricospadafora posted it about 5 years ago - never venture on there so no idea how useful a source they are). “Sanctioning fees are often 3% or so of the purse so unless you are making a 6.8 million dollar pay day which 99% of boxers never make it isn't 200k and even then they negotiate a flat fee that is much less than 3% for big purse fights.” If that is true then I imagine they’d make similar from Usyk or Joshua, given both would likely negotiate a flat fee. The WBO would have more bargaining power with Usyk, AJ has the IBF and WBA so doesn’t need the WBO for prestige.
Yeah but the point is they won’t get 3%. They’ll get a negotiated flat fee for bigger fights, according to that post. So if they’re getting £200k whether AJ or Usyk has the belt then there’s no incentive not to strip him.
Just maybe it’s all a conspiracy to spare AJ a major banana skin fight against Usyk so soon after Ruiz? The WBO belt stays ‘in house’ with either Usyk, Parker or even Chisora. AJ saves face, another big money PPV unification match joins the horizon and the undisputed dream continues to build and build. It’s business