Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua have already fought on two occasions (Image: Getty)
WBO interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker has admitted that he has no faith that a fight against will be available for him. Parker, 33, called out the unified WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion soon after knocking out Martin Bakole, who stepped in to fight the New Zealander in Saudi Arabia
Parker is on a tremendous run of form in his last three bouts. He has not held a heavyweight championship since he was for the unified WBA, IBF and WBO titles.
While many believe Parker has earned a shot at Usyk, the Ukrainian instantly rejected his call-up, stating he is only interested in a rematch with Dubois so he can reclaim his IBF title and become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion. Responding to the current situation, Parker admits he does not understand why he is not in the title picture.
Speaking on , Parker said: “It feels like we are so close to fighting for real titles and then, all of a sudden, he [Dubois] got sick and now they are lining up this big fight between Usyk and Dubois. I’m not sure what we need to do in order to lock in a championship of the world fight.
“I think we have done everything asked of us and hopefully we can lock it in soon. I would love the opportunity just to test myself against Usyk. He is a great fighter and I’d love to see what I am capable of doing against someone like that.
“If I could fight someone, it would be Usyk. Dubois, we did have that fight locked in and he pulled out, still with no explanation. Any of those two would be amazing.”
On the chances of him potentially being matched up against Usyk, the Kiwi replied: “Not too confident that, that’ll be next. That’ll be best if that did happen, but, as you know, boxing has a lot of things that happen behind the scenes that we don’t really know and we don’t really hear off. There’s things always being lined up. But I am not sure [a fight against Usyk] will happen next.
Parker lost his WBO belt when he faced Joshua in 2018 (Image: Getty)
“I honestly have no idea who will be next, but I would fight anyone and everyone to get my chance to fight for the championship of the world. So not too sure. What can we do? What should we do in this kind of situation? Do we set it out and wait for the winner of that fight [Usyk vs Dubois] or do we keep busy and keep progressing and keep fighting other top fighters?”
With Parker’s two opponents of choice, Usyk and Dubois, looking more likely to fight each other than him, the former WBO world champion suggested he would relish an opportunity to rematch Joshua. He added: “But, as we focus on myself and my career, I think those three names [Usyk, Dubois, Joshua] will be the next in line.”