Fury vs Usyk still not official; WBA hands out April 1st deadline to receive the official contracts

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk now have until April 1st to sign a contract for their planned undisputed heavyweight championship.

The two unbeaten heavyweights will face off in a championship consolidation fight, according to World Boxing Association (WBA) president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, if their months-long negotiations are not successful. After submitting in writing that both parties had agreed to a purse split for their proposed title showdown, Fury and Usyk were able to delay the sanctioning body, but they were once again under pressure to hold the fight due to the passing of time.

“The WBA deadline to receive signed bout contracts is April 1,” Mendoza announced Sunday morning. “Otherwise, the mandatory negotiations will be ordered (for Usyk).”

London’s Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18KOs) is the WBA ‘Regular’ heavyweight titlist whom Ukraine’s Usyk (20-0, 13KOs) will be ordered to face in the absence of a full unification bout with Fury. Usyk holds the WBA ‘Super’ heavyweight title along with the IBF and WBO belts, with mandatory title defenses attached to all three belts.

Manchester’s Fury (33-0-1, 24KOs) is the reigning WBC and lineal champion. He is currently in the voluntary title defense phase of his title reign without a WBC mandatory challenger.

On April 23, 2017, at Wembley Stadium, Fury knocked out Dillian Whyte in the sixth round to fulfill his WBC commitment. After accomplishing the accomplishment, he defeated Derek Chisora by knockout on December 3 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London during their third encounter. The third victory over Chisora also marked the third time that Fury successfully defended his WBC championship. He has held the title ever since stopping Deontay Wilder in the seventh round of their rematch in February 2020 in Las Vegas.

The requirement has not yet been included in a two-way signed deal. Furthermore, far too much information about the deadlocked negotiations has been made public, which makes it less likely than ever that the fight will take place in late April.

Fury recently declared his support for a social media blackout, promising to refrain from making any more offensive video taunts at Usyk until a deal was made.

Usyk asserts that the British must put an end to this continuing saga in the meantime.

After defeating Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22KOs) in their September 2021 WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight championship match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Usyk became a two-division champion. In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 20, he defeated Anthony Joshua again by split decision to make his lone championship defense.

Usyk's record in title fights covering two weight divisions improved to 9-0 with the two victories. The undisputed cruiserweight king from 2012 who won a gold medal at the Olympics moved up to heavyweight in 2019.