WBO orders Usyk vs Parker

I hope not, but I could see something similar happening. Not a year, definitely a few months at least though.

The WBO better put their foot down though and say the belt needs to be defended in short order or they are stripping.

 

No way.

This has gone on too long already

 

Would also like Kabayel to get a shot @ a world belt.

 

Apparently Usyk has asked the WBO for an extension so he can reach an agreement with Parker to defend his WBO world title (due to injuries). I was a bit surprised by this news, I thought Usyk didn't want to fight Parker (because he thought it was more economically advantageous to fight someone else) and was leaving the WBO title vacant. However if Usyk has asked the WBO for this extension, it means that Parker will most likely be the Ukrainian champion's next opponent.

 

According to Hoyle Parker probably "deserves" a shot relative to the rest of these guys, but every time I get excited about dude, he turns in a snooze fest. My prediction for this fight is that Usyk puts on a boring clinic for the UD as Parker would rather last 12 knowing he wasn't gonna win rather than leave it all in the ring and probably end up getting stopped.

 

It is surprising, because team Parker have been saying Usyk hadn't been open to negotiations.

I suppose there are the optics to consider. It looks a lot better to ask for an extension for injury, and then he is stripped, than refuse to negotiate and then being stripped.

Anyway, I'm sure the WBO will release the specifics of the injury in due course

 

Your hypothesis can't be ruled out. I also knew that a few days ago Parker's team had said that negotiations with Usyk had never even begun, then yesterday I read this news and it made me think that Usyk might have actually chosen Parker as his opponent. But, indeed, your interpretation could also be correct. After the first match with Fury, Usyk was stripped of his IBF belt because he had no intention of facing the official challenger, Dubois, when a rematch with Fury was scheduled. I thought that Usyk would also give up one of his belts, the WBO, because he wasn't interested in Parker. We'll just have to wait and see how things unfold to find out more. For now, we can speculate, all legitimate, of course, but they remain only our speculations.

 

It's worth noting that at no point did Usyk ever say no. Even before Dubois fight night, there is an interview out there in which they asked him what he and Parker said to each other when they bumped into each other, and he he said something like, "he asked me for a fight, and I said maybe."

Apparently, Parker said that Usyk said no. I am not calling Parker a liar at all...maybe a language barrier, or something. But Uysk has not once publicly refused.

 

It's just that since negotiations never started, I thought Usyk would prefer other opponents to Parker. Now this news has changed my mind. We'll see how things develop. Another person has made a different hypothesis than mine, which is understandable, as I was saying, we can make different assumptions. Only when the name of Usyk's next opponent is official will we know for sure who it will be. Up until two days ago, I thought we wouldn't see a Usyk-Parker fight, but after this news, I've changed my mind. Let's wait.

 

Yeah I don't think Usyk has ever ruled out Parker, just seemed reluctant to agree to the Parker fight, which is unlike him when you consider how he was for Chisora, Joshua, Fury and even Dubois.

My theory is that Usyk prepares extensively for his opponents, so its a lot easier for him to prepare for an opponent has already faced than a new one like Parker. Not saying that Usyk wouldn't beat him, just that it will be a lot more work and risk for Usyk and he is trying to decide if that is worth it to keep the title but for less money.

Usyk and his team will be analysing Parker and seeing where they can win a fight. Parker doesn't have any obvious holes in his game that a fighter like Usyk can exploit, not like Dubois, so Usyk will have to plan to fight a long 12 rounds which can add up at his age.

 

Your over thinking it

It's all money related and Parker doesn't appear to bring the most to the table

 

Usyk does not want to fight his mandatory Parker. That much is clear.

 

My idea on the matter is that he just doesn't know what he wants to do next. In the last year, we have heard him say retire, more movies, MMA against Jake Paul, WWE, two more fights, he doesn't know how many more fights, fight until he is 40 , etc.

If he fights on for a few more, he'll fight Parker. If he decides he wants to retire, he'll go out on a performative match, like Pereira.

I hope he fights Joe, and I think we'll see it. But given recent developments, I think Joe is probably elevated to full WBO first. And you know what....Joe deserves it with how he has been jerked around. The best case scenario would have been beating Dubois and fighting Usyk as a two-time champ that way, but I wouldn't mind seeing him walking into the ring against Usyk a two-time titilist with his own legacy one way or the other. Joe has done enough that he deserves to have the same kind of status as Fury or Joshua.