Joseph Parker’s promoter calls for Oleksandr Usyk to ‘honour’ title defence against Kiwi heavyweight

Parker faces a nervous wait to see whether he will get the next shot at undisputed heavyweight champion

Joseph Parker’s promoter David Higgins has urged Oleksandr Usyk to defend his world titles against the Kiwi heavyweight next.

Usyk became the undisputed heavyweight champion for the second time when he knocked out Daniel Dubois at Wembley on Saturday night.

Parker is the WBO interim champion and the governing body has ordered negotiations to begin for him to face Usyk.

However, the Ukrainian great could look to vacate his WBO belt in order to pursue a big-money fight as he nears the end of his illustrious career. Higgins has welcomed a clash with Usyk, and insists his man wants a shot at the heavyweight king rather than fighting for a vacated title.

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“Joseph is hoping and praying that Usyk will want to defend the honour of undisputed champion, which not many people in recent times have achieved,” Higgins told Sky Sports.

"Hardly anyone has even held that honour for more than a few months so we are hoping that Usyk will want to have a reign as heavyweight champion and will honour a unification against Joseph over a splinter of the belts.

"We haven't given up on Usyk fighting Joseph next. A lot of people are suggesting that he won't but for me that is a bit of a soft outcome if he doesn't. We are hopeful of fighting Usyk and we are hopeful of doing it before the end of the year."

Oleksandr Usyk after stopping Daniel Dubois for the second time (Getty Images)

Parker has previously held the WBO strap before after beating Andy Ruiz Jr in 2016. He made two successful defences of the belt before losing to Anthony Joshua in a unification clash.

Further defeats by Dillian Whyte and Joe Joyce followed, but Parker has since forced his way back into title contention with impressive wins over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole.

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He is now hoping for the next crack at Usyk, but the undisputed champion has plenty of other options on the table.

A trilogy fight with Tyson Fury has been mooted, while Agit Kabayel is well-positioned as the WBC interim titlist.

Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has also revealed he would like to see Britain’s rising star Moses Itauma take on Usyk, and it remains to be seen whether he will jump above Parker in the pecking order.

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