Although Oleksandr Usyk took little damage in his last fight against Daniel Dubois, which took place in July, it may be a while before we see the undefeated Ukrainian back inside the squared circle.
Usyk made light work of Dubois and finished him in the fifth round of their rematch at Wembley Stadium in London, but despite seemingly coming out unscathed, which made boxing fans hopeful of a quick turnaround, it has since been revealed he may be sidelined for quite some time due to injury.
Usyk and Joseph Parker’s teams were given 30 days to reach an agreement before purse bids were called, but Parker claimed his team were never in discussions regarding the fight. It turns out Usyk instead filed for an extension due to the injuries he suffered during his fight against Dubois, and following the investigation, the WBO were satisfied with the injury evidence.
Usyk’s latest shock appearance, though, in which he took part in a charity football match, has left fans fuming.
A lot of boxing fans are irate with Oleksandr Usyk for making an appearance in a charity football match this past weekend. The heavyweight world champion played with plenty of football icons in the Legends Charity Game in Portugal, which was put together to raise money for several causes, including to support Usyk’s home country of Ukraine.
Although it was a charity match, and they were raising money for good causes, boxing fans are angry, seemingly because they feel like he should not be playing sports while his back is injured.
In the comments of some of the posts which Usyk made to social media sites such as X and Instagram, fans wrote things such as “Joseph Parker’s team will be complaining to the sanctioning bodies”, “WBO investigation incoming”, and “So no injury then? You should be fighting Parker.”
Although fans have made their voices heard and are clearly unhappy, the most unhappy parties in all of this will likely be Usyk’s heavyweight rivals, as the top of the division is essentially on ice until he can fight again. Parker, in particular, is most likely the most unhappy of them all, as he has missed out on a huge opportunity to face a living legend as well as a hefty payday.
Instead of fighting Usyk, Parker is next in action in October when he takes on Fabio Wardley in a DAZN pay-per-view.
