The WBO ordered Alexander to defend his title against Joseph, but the Ukrainian's priority is a rematch with Daniel
Joseph Parker, photo – Getty Images
Former light welterweight world champion Chris Algieri believes that interim WBO world champion Joseph Parker (36-3, 23 KOs) deserves the right to become the next opponent of WBC, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight belt holder Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) to a greater extent than IBF champion Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs).
“I think Joseph Parker deserves to fight Usyk. Then it's Dubois vs. Chisora. I don't know how Chisora can take those punches. If that fight happens… I mean, with this IBF, it's hit and miss. Sometimes they book a good fight, sometimes they do something stupid like that. To me, it really doesn't make sense.”
“But I think Parker deserves the fight with Usyk. He's a former champion, he hasn't had a second chance in a long time, he's got a great run, great wins. After such a great run, how can you not get a title shot? And he and Dubois were supposed to fight, and it was supposed to be decided who was going to fight Usyk. Dubois was the one who dropped out. So, in my opinion, Dubois shouldn't get the fight with Usyk. I know you were sick, but anything can happen. Parker was the one who went out and won, so there's no way he won't get that fight, he deserves it. But what's more likely to happen is probably a rematch between Dubois and Usyk.”
Read also: Algieri: Usyk has two big wins over Fury in a year – that’s enough to recognize him as one of the greatest fighters of all time
Last year, Usyk was twice stronger than the previously undefeated Briton Tyson Fury. In March, the Ukrainian once again announced his desire to fight Dubois. His coach Sergey Lapin said that Alexander plans to hold his next fight between July and September.
At the same time, the WBO officially determined that Usyk will defend his championship belt. The Ukrainian's opponent should be Joseph Parker. The parties were given 30 days to negotiate – if the deal is not agreed upon, the WBO will hold a promoter auction for the event. Refusal of the fight may result in Alexander losing the WBO championship belt, but Usyk has options to avoid this. One of them is an official request to the WBO to postpone the fight.
Algieri's opinion is shared by his colleagues, former world champions Carl Froch and Darren Barker – they all believe that the New Zealander deserves his chance to fight the Ukrainian.
Read also: Dubois: I definitely want to fight Parker next
IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) was supposed to fight Parker in February, but the Briton was unable to enter the ring due to illness.
It was recently announced that the International Boxing Federation (IBF) will assign Dubois a mandatory fight against fellow countryman Dereck Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs), the organization's No. 2 contender. The fight will be officially confirmed on April 22, and the deadline for it to take place is June 21.
At the same time, Dubois’ potential unification fight against WBO/WBC/WBA/IBO heavyweight title holder Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) will take precedence over the mandatory.