It is still unknown who Fabio Wardley will fight in the first defense of his WBO heavyweight world title, but almost certainly he will not be boxing Oleksandr Usyk, the former holder of this belt, in the near future.
Usyk, the number one in the division, recently decided to vacate the WBO belt to consider other options, which in turn left Wardley, the number one contender, without the desired meeting. Nevertheless, Wardley gained an advantage in the heavyweight division and will enter the ring as champion in his next fight.
“Before the fight, Usyk said he would fight the winner. And now he has changed his mind,” Frank Warren, Wardley's promoter, said in a recent interview with talkSPORT. “Obviously, he believes the risk is not justified. I think we would have filled an entire stadium for that fight, and we might have even held it at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. But let's see what happens next. Fabio will return to the ring in April, and I will meet with him and his manager over lunch next week. We are going to decide what to do. There are plenty of options.”
One of the main contenders in this division is Wardley's teammate Moses Itauma, who currently ranks first in the WBO. However, such a fight is highly unlikely because both have the same coach, Ben Davison, and there is little interest from both teams for such a fight.
Filip Hrgovic and Zhilei Zhang occupy second and third places in the ranking, respectively, and may well claim a fight. Another bout that would definitely make sense is the British clash with Daniel Dubois, who recently fought for the undisputed title against Usyk in July but suffered a knockout defeat.
Anthony Joshua could also be an alternative option if available next year. Wardley has already spoken about this fight, but Joshua is currently focused on his match with blogger Jake Paul in Miami later this month.
