The WBO have ordered Oleksandr Usyk to defend against Joseph Parker

The WBO "interim" belt lineage?



The WBO didn't seem to be worried about ordering a mandatory three weeks ago when they were "Daniel Dubois getting sick" away from stripping Parker.

The WBO is not consistent at all.

I'm in favor of Parker getting a shot. I think he's most deserving. And that's who a mandatory contender should be ... the most deserving.

But the WBO was ready to kick Parker to the curb about 21 days ago (for agreeing to fight another top heavyweight). Now, the WBO is going to kick Usyk to the curb if he doesn't fight Parker, who they were ready to ignore last month and dump from their ratings.

They are all about trying to control fighters who they have no control over.

It has nothing to do with merit.

They'll dump the top champion and the top challenger if the fighters don't jump to attention when they snap their fingers.

It has NOTHING to do with who is the best or who is the most deserving ... and that's the ONLY thing consistent about the WBO.

They seem more eager to "bounce" somebody, regardless of how qualified or legit they are.

Did Daniel Dubois personally offend the WBO? Any time someone agrees to fight Dubois, the WBO jumps in and says. "you sign and you're out!"

 

Would’ve preferred Usyk-Kabayel but Parker is the next best option so it’s fine.

Hopefully Usyk doesn’t drop the WBO belt to pursue a Dubois rematch. I don’t think he will, but it depends on the finances involved.

 

Yes, the current interim lineage dates back to 2022 when the two top contenders fought for it. Ironically it being Parker and Joyce.
Why did the WBO put up the interim belt? Because then WBO champ Usyk had other mandatory obligations.
So in order to keep the division and ranking going, the WBO put up an interim belt.

They were pretty clear in their ruling. The WBO interim champion can not unify their belt with other champions, so they will strip Parker.
There was nothing inconsistent about it, and they had no reason to order a mandatory defense because Parker was(involuntarily) giving up the belt anyways.

The WBO has been waiting for a mandatory defense for over 2 years now. If they wanted to "dump the campion" then they would have done so back in 2022. Tell me, how long should the WBO continue waiting before they enforce that mandatory?

I think it´s just you not understanding the order of these timeframes. The IBF basically did the same thing recently.

 

Exactly Dubios did the exact opposite of deserve it. Joseph Parker you earned your shot the hard way props.

 

Dubious lost to Joyce which is worse...

 

To be fair, so did Parker.

But are we really gonna pretend Whyte wasn't a perennial Top 5 contender? People are so quick to forget. No shame in losing to prime Dillian Whyte...

 

Not sure what will happen now TBH. Usyk looks like he has a choice between the IBF and the WBO in Dubois and Parker repsectively, and to be fair I think the last time the WBO called their mandatory was AJ on Usyk, so it does make sense.

Usyk and Turki's choice really.

If Usyk does fight Parker, I really hope Dubois fights Kabayel over AJ. AND - AJ fights Fury, some summer of HW boxing that.

 

It says a lot that it's very difficult to pick one, doesn't it?

Usyk is #1 by a long way.
Parker is probably #2.
Dubois is probably #3.

It's unclear whether Joshua is shot or just fought totally the wrong fight against Dubois - if the latter, he could be anywhere between 2 and 4/5.

It's unclear whether Fury has really/honestly retired or just trying to drive his price up for next time... He could also be anywhere between 2 and about 5 depending on state of decline.

Kabayel isn't that proven but still likely lands somewhere around here too - at best about 4th, but could easily be 5th or 6th.


Even picking a top 5 isn't straightforward, IMHO - people with firm/confident top 10's I don't really understand.

The problem is there's so little obvious depth coming through and so few fights happening that it's very hard to guage just how fast certain characters are moving up or down the tree.

 

Easy fight for Usyk.

 

I love that your options for why Joshua lost to Dubois are:

1. Totally shot, past prime
2. Fought the wrong fight

Like that's it, those are the only possible reasons why a fighter lost. Let me add a few for you:

3. Not skilled for a heavyweight fighting the elite
4. Doesn't have a great chin OR good emotional reaction to getting cracked
5. Doesn't have the boxing brain to figure an opponent out before or during the fight

The implication that "if Joshua simply fought the wrong fight against Dubois, he could be as high as the #2 heavyweight" is pure, rabid fanboyism. You need to wake up.

Joshua got splattered. Joshua isn't as good as you hoped he'd be, he never was. It's okay. Your hope posts are very sad.

 

And there's the rabid, unhinged hater perspective

Your #1 is much more exaggerated than what I said.
#2 is just a realistic possibility.

#3... That's one of the kingpins in establishing Dubois as part of the elite - because Joshua has the deepest resume in the division, realistically (Usyk has a strong record but not depth through lack of fights at the weight, Fury has great highlights but lots of dross and little depth)... Oh, and if we're talking skills, Joshua's looked far less lacking against Usyk than Dubois did.

#4 is realistically fair - history suggests he doesn't have a bad chin, but it's not iron either... And Joshua doesn't seem to have the heart he once did (or at least did against Wlad).

#5... Realistically before the fight it's the trainers job to help prepare the fighter - and at the same time, it didn't really last long enough for him to make big adjustments... However, if the argument is that Usyk would've made adjustments there and turned it, you might have a point, but few others in the division would.



If we really want to fixate on that one particular fight and it's causes... The elephant in the room is:
#A - Dubois is still getting better.

It's no secret that fighters can and do decline - when a fighter on the way up meets one on the way down, the timing dictates whether it's time to change places, or not yet.


Where you're absolutely wrong is thinking I care whether Joshua is any good or not... I've said many times I think he's a detestable character and I'd be happy if he was crap (I've said the same about Wilder, among others) - the reality is he was clearly the best for several years and had the record to back it up, it's nice seeing him vulnerable and seeing others come through.

I don't get emotionally invested in whether a fighter succeeds or fails - there may be fighters I like more than others, fighters I find more entertaining than others... And fighters I think are clearly better than others... But I don't get emotionally invested in them.

That reaction suggests you do... And, well, you do you - but I don't appreciate someone putting incorrect motives in my mouth.

 

Not reading that.

You think Joshua could currently be the #2 HW simply because he "fought the wrong fight" against Dubois. You're a rabid fanboy. Consider other ways to spend your time.

 

Much rather see this than Dubois II

 

If you think that makes me a rabid fanboy you're an even bigger moron than I thought, as well as unnecessarily rude.

I reserve my ignore list for special grades of idiot, I suppose you can consider yourself in good company henceforth.

 

Unifications in the WBO rules can replace mandatories, which is what the Usyk-Dubois rematch would be (a unification).

The WBO's own rules allow for that.

The World Championship Committee has the power and authority to sanction a Unification Bout or participation in a unification tournament as a Mandatory Title Bout. A Unification Bout is a championship bout with the champion of another world sanctioning organization recognized by the WBO, including the WBA, the WBC and the IBF.

(1) EXTENSION OF MANDATORY TITLE DEFENSE. The Championship Committee may extend a Super Champion’s mandatory title defense for good cause shown one or more times beyond the time provided for in the WBO Regulations for World Championship Contests for the purpose of giving a Super Champion opportunity or opportunities to unify the titles of more than one major sanctioning body either in a unification bout or a unification tournament, or any other important match or matches that the Committee determines would contribute to the Super Champion’s legacy or would be of great interest to boxing fans.

In that regard, Usyk's unifications with Fury last year certainly fit the criteria of a mandatory defense. So would a rematch with Dubois.

Like I said, they were ready to cut Parker loose three weeks ago.

Now, it's so CRUCIAL Parker get a title shot with Usyk next, they'd cut Usyk loose if he doesn't fight him.

Nothing about this is consistent. Their own rules aren't consistent. They're built for MAXIMUM leeway so they can make it up as they go along.

Hell, according to the WBO's own rules, a mandatory can simply be someone who HBO and Showtime believe is a quality opponent, if the champion has a deal with that network.

AND HBO AND SHOWTIME DON'T EVEN TELEVISE BOXING ANYMORE.

(I guess they kind of change their rules as they go along, and forget to update them at the same time.)