Frank Warren has given a damning verdict on Oleksandr Usyk’s clash with Rico Verhoeven, unimpressed by the Ukrainian not defending his WBC world title against a worthy contender.
The 39-year-old has not fought since his fifth-round stoppage victory over Daniel Dubois in July, back when he became a three-time, two-division undisputed champion.
Since then, Usyk has vacated his WBO title, which is now held by Fabio Wardley, while keeping hold of his WBC, IBF and WBA straps.
But while many still regard him as the bona fide heavyweight king, it is nonetheless difficult to accept his upcoming WBC title defence as a credible matchup.
Instead, Usyk’s showdown with kickboxing legend Verhoeven is being viewed as a largely uninspiring headliner at the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, on May 23.
His opponent has, after all, only had one professional boxing outing – against 0-6 heavyweight Janos Finfera – which he won by second-round stoppage in 2014.
Meanwhile, WBC ‘interim’ champion Agit Kabayel has been forced to wait in the wings, despite having amassed a string of impressive finishes over Zhilei Zhang, Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov.
As Kabayel’s promoter, Queensberry boss Warren has told talkSPORT that, after his crossover match with Verhoeven, Usyk must either vacate his WBC title or defend it against his leading challenger.
At the same time, Warren addressed Usyk facing the winner of Wardley-Dubois, or entering a trilogy match with Tyson Fury, after the decorated southpaw outlined his hit list earlier this week.
“No conversations have been had regarding [Usyk’s hit list]. He’s got his fight in Egypt against the kickboxer. After that, he has to defend his WBC title against Agit Kabayel, who’s been very patient and active.
“He has to do that fight. If he doesn’t do it, then he has to vacate the title or he’ll be stripped, and then he can fight one of those guys [Wardley, Dubois, and Fury].
“They’re with us – we can make these fights happen.
Asked about the Verhoeven fight, specifically that the WBC title will be on the line, Warren was blunt in his assessment.
“I don’t like all this stuff [Usyk fighting Verhoeven for the WBC]. It’s wrong. He should’ve been fighting Kabayel.”
Kabayel is yet to announce his next assignment after scoring a third-round stoppage victory over Damian Knyba in January.
