Anthony Joshua-Oleksandr Usyk II Gets The Heavyweight Crown Closer To Unification

The heavyweight title is inching closer to unification — uh, maybe.

News dropped this week that heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Anthony Joshua is likely to go down in early summer. And if Usyk wins, that could set up a unifier for later this year with the other heavyweight champ, Tyson Fury. But that’s leaping way ahead.

First, Usyk vs. Joshua would take place in June with Saudi Arabia reportedly being considered as the site.

Usyk battered Joshua before a sell-out crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September to capture the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts.

Then, in the ultimate First Blood move: Usyk returned to his homeland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and joined a territorial defense battalion, promising he was armed and willing to kill. And so a Joshua rematch looked doomed. But then the Ukrainian sports minister granted permission to Usyk to leave the country — and to begin training for the rematch.

Usyk confirmed the bout on Instagram, writing: “I decided to start preparing for a rematch with Anthony Joshua. A large number of my friends support me, all the rest of the good and peace, Thank God for everything.”

If Usyk smashes Joshua again, that could set up a unification bout with WBC champ Fury by November or December. But first Fury must face the mandatory No. 1 contender Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium on April 23. Fury has tossed out the idea of retirement after the Whyte fight. Yeah, right. Fury is all about legacy and knows his legacy will only be cemented if he unifies the division’s titles, which hasn’t been under one champion since Lennox Lewis held all the gold 22 years ago.

There are two monkey-wrenches. The first one is if Joshua wins. Will Usyk get a mandatory rematch as the former former champ? Most definitely. Usyk also has said he wants to unite the heavyweight titles.

The other monkey-wrench is if Whyte beats Fury. Don’t laugh. It wouldn’t be surprising if Fury came in hungover (figurative speaking) after his scintillating trilogy win over Deontay Wilder. Fury’s trainer SugarHill Steward surely know how dangerous Whyte is, recently saying: “Listen, this is the heavyweight division, the most exciting division in boxing. Everybody has a chance. That’s why it’s one of the big daddy divisions, because anything can happen in the heavyweight division.”

But at least, there’s movement, with Joshua and Usyk nearing a deal to for a fight in June. And that’s one step closer to getting what we want: an undisputed heavyweight champion.