Parker’s Mandatory Wait: WBO’s Consideration Of Usyk-Dubois Undisputed Rematch

Joseph Parker fans are angry today after learning that the WBO has received a petition for heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk to fight IBF champ Daniel Dubois for the undisputed championship next.

Business Call

The WBO has received the petition and will decide whether to allow the Usyk vs. Dubois 2 rematch to happen next rather than the mandatory Parker fight. Business-wise, Usyk-Dubois II is the bigger fight because it involves the undisputed championship.

Usyk vs. Dubois 2 should happen next because the winner will be the undisputed champion. The WBO mandatory between Parker and the winner could then fight. That makes the most sense.

Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) became the WBO mandatory by knocking out the out-of-shape 310-lb Martin Bakole in the second round on February 22nd in Riyadh. Bakole was brought in as a replacement opponent after IBF champion Dubois pulled out of the fight due to a sudden illness.

The undisputed clash between Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) and Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) would be massive, especially if staged at Wembley Stadium in London.

The former WBO heavyweight champion Parker has put himself in position to challenge for the title against Usyk by beating these fighters:

– Martin Bakole
– Zhilei Zhang
– Deontay Wilder

Parker has earned a title shot against Usyk, but the Dubois match would likely make more money. There will be huge interest in that clash compared to one involving the rather dull Parker, who does a lot of holding and moving now that he’s changed his fighting style.

Some fans believe Dubois was robbed of a victory in his fight against Usyk on August 26, 2023, in Wroclaw, Poland. Dubois dropped Usyk with a beltline body shot in the fifth round of that contest that kept him down for five minutes, rolling around on the canvas in agony.

The referee ruled it a low blow, but some fans think it was a legal shot. Dubois would have won by a fifth-round knockout if it had been ruled a beltline shot. Usyk came back to stop Dubois in the ninth round after he wore the bigger, stronger fighter down with sharp punches. Some people think Dubois quit when the going got tough because the punch that finished him didn’t look particularly hard.

The WBO has received a petition to allow the Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois undisputed world heavyweight championship fight to go ahead next 📄 pic.twitter.com/llu7YyAYRk

— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) April 10, 2025