Joseph Parker has been the mandatory challenger for the WBO heavyweight title for more than a year. That remains the case, the sanctioning body confirmed on Sunday.

Parker will have to wait a bit longer for his shot at the WBO belt, however, now that the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois has been announced for July 19.

Usyk was the undisputed champion before dropping his IBF belt last year – he was obligated to face Tyson Fury in a rematch – rather than defend against Dubois, his IBF mandatory challenger at the time.

Usyk remains the lineal champion and has the WBC, WBC and WBO titles while Dubois now owns the IBF belt.

“Having carefully considered the arguments presented by all relevant parties regarding the WBO mandatory, it is the WBO’s position that the best interests of boxing and, most importantly, the fighters themselves are best served by allowing the unification bout to proceed prior to discharging the mandatory obligation,” WBO President Gustavo Olivieri posted on social media. 

“In doing so, the division will once again crown an undisputed champion, elevating the sport and its athletes to the highest standard,” Olivieri wrote. “It is further clarified that Joseph Parker’s mandatory status is upheld, and he remains next in the rotation system following the unification.”

The WBO’s mandatory obligation has not been fulfilled for years, though it’s not as if the belt hasn’t been defended in major fights.

Usyk won the WBO title, as well as the IBF and WBA belts, from Anthony Joshua in September 2021 and then retained it in their August 2022 rematch. Usyk then defeated Dubois in August 2023, beat Fury for the WBC title (and therefore became undisputed) in May 2024 and won the Fury rematch last December.

This interim WBO title was introduced in September 2022, about a month after Usyk-Joshua II. Interestingly, it started in a fight Parker was involved in: his knockout loss to Joe Joyce.  

The belt has changed hands twice since: Zhilei Zhang stopped Joyce twice in 2023. Parker edged Zhang via majority decision in March 2024 and then took out late replacement Martin Bakole this past February.

Of course, the winner of Usyk-Dubois II is under no obligation to face Parker, though that is a fight that many boxing fans want to see. If they were to vacate the belt, then Parker would be elevated to the full WBO titleholder.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.