Anthony Joshua to vacate WBO belt

Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua 24-1 (22) plans to give up his WBO title if his mandatory title defence against Oleksandr Usyk 18-0 (13) is forced to go to purse bid.

The 31-year-old Brit was expected to unify his WBA, WBO and IBF belts with WBC champion Tyson Fury 30-0-1 (21) in Saudi Arabia on August 14.

Those plans were thrown into turmoil when an independent arbitrator ruled in May that Fury must honour his contractual obligation to face Deontay Wilder 42-1-1 (41) for a third time after the 35-year-old American enacted the immediate rematch clause in their contract following his seventh-round knockout loss to the 32-year-old Brit in February last year.

Ukrainian southpaw Usyk, 34, has been listed as the WBO’s leading contender since moving up to heavyweight two years ago.
The former undisputed cruiserweight champion is now pushing for his mandated shot at the title.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has warned that if a deal can’t be reached, they would rather vacate the WBO title than go through the purse bid process.