Usyk Return is Targeted For April

The original plan was to feature WBO cruiseweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk on the Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs HBO pay-per-view undercard on March 18th at the Madison Square Garden in New York. But now it looks like his next bout will come in the following month.Usyk lost his position on the card when Roman Gonzalez and Carlos Cuadras were matched in separate fights instead of facing each other in a rematch.

Tom Loeffler, the managing director of K2 Promotions, explained on Thursday afternoon - "We lost a slot because of the (Carlos) Cuadras fight. If 'Chocolatito' (Roman Gonzalez) and Cuadras had fought we would have a slot for a fight with Usyk we were thinking about."

Both Gonzalez and Cuadras - who engaged in an entertaining slugfest, will have to fight in each other in a rematch in the near future, as long as they win their upcoming fights - because the WBC has designated Cuadras as the mandatory challenger. It was announced by K2 that unbeaten prospect Ryan 'Blue Chip' Martin would open up this pay-per-view broadcast against Bryant 'Pee Wee' Cruz. But Usyk will be back on U.S. airwaves soon after.

"After speaking with Peter Nelson (Executive Vice President of HBO Sports) at HBO he wants to feature Usyk again on a regular HBO broadcast instead of pay-per-view," said Loeffler. "So we're looking at some time in April for Usyk on an HBO broadcast."