Oleksandr Usyk vs Joe Joyce interim WBO title fight likely heading to purse bid

Everything seems to be clear for an undisputed heavyweight title unification between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua now that Joshua’s WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk has officially been ordered to face Joe Joyce for an interim title. Even still, that fight has yet to be formally set in stone as Hearn tells Sky Sports he believes the fight will be sent to purse bid within the next couple of weeks.

“The WBO have ruled [Usyk vs Joyce] for the interim title with a view to the winner fighting the winner of AJ-Fury. I believe that fight will go to purse bids in a couple of weeks. Certainly we will be bidding for that fight. It is a good fight. There is history between the two of them from the amateur game. It is a fight that we would be interested in putting together.”

Joyce’s manager Sam Jones says that he’s still working on negotiating terms for that bout so things would appear to be at a bit of a standstill largely due to money.

Usyk (18-0, 13 KO) is most recently coming off a unanimous decision win over Derek Chisora this past October while Joyce (12-0, 11 KO) last knocked out Danuel Dubois in a huge moment for his professional career. Both fighters are eager to work their way to a major world title fight, but this interim title fight will have to suffice for the short term.