The International Boxing Federation itself also takes a principled position.
Kalle Sauerland, Croatian heavyweight promoter Philip Hrgovic (14-0, 12 KOs), said that their team is preparing to fight for the IBF belt owned by the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs). The mandatory contender for the title is not going to postpone the fight in order for Usyk to have the opportunity to fight for the title of absolute world champion with Tyson Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs).
“Everything is being prepared as planned. This is a strict order of the IBF. For them, the situation is very clear. There was an example before. Tyson Fury took the title from Wladimir Klitschko, but lost the belt because he did not comply with the requirements of the federation.
“They are [Международная федерация бокса] take it very seriously; we will take this very seriously. Philip has been looking forward to this fight for a long time and we are happy that it will take place.”
We will remind, the promoter Eddie Hearn said that the IBF ordered Usyk to meet with mandatory challenger Hrgovic. The promoter of the Ukrainian Oleksandr Krasyuk said that until the date of the auction has been set, the IBF will have the right to sanction the unification fight between Usyk and Tyson Fury, since this rank of the fight is a priority for all four organizations.
Croatian Hrgovic defeated Zhang Zhilei of China in August to become the mandatory contender for the IBF world title. Promoter Oleksandr Krasyuk called Khrgovych a possible rival for Usyk among the mandatory contenders for the Ukrainian belt.
Usyk challenged Fury after defeating Anthony Joshua. Soon, the Ukrainian said that it was impossible to fight Tyson this year. Krasyuk said that the working date of the Usyk-Fury fight is February 18th.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
