The WBO Championship Committee has ruled that the September 24 clash between heavyweights Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker in Manchester, England, will now be for the WBO interim heavyweight championship. The decision was made in response to a request from Queensberry Promotions on behalf of current WBO #1 contender Joyce.
The WBO Committee notes that the organization’s heavyweight championship has only been at stake on two occasions (Oleksandr Usyk/Anthony Joshua bouts) over the last two years. With Usyk headed toward a probable fight with Tyson Fury in 2023, the activity in the division has been significantly low. Therefore, an interim title is in the best interests in the division for the fighters, the fans, and the WBO.
I’m beating a dead horse here, but we’ve gone from champion to A champion in every conceivable way. People’s champ carries more weight than any of the alphabet straps. This move will generate a higher payday for Usyk in 2024, assuming Fury actually fights him in late 2023.
There should never be an interim champion or whatever else champion. The champion is the champion and the other fighters ranked.
If ever needed where a championship belt is vacated then and only then there must be a fight between #1 and #2 ranked for the championship. Or who is next in ranking available if #1 & #2 cannot fight.
Fighters should always fight for a championship. It is really lame when an interim champion is ‘awarded’ the championship when the actual champion retires, cannot fight, vacates or whatever. They never feel to the fans like a real champion. It’s like the gold medal at the Olympics being won on a bye.
Oh boy, here we go with the fancy term “interim” or temporary/short-term to fill a void and keep the attraction in the development of future fights. Parker’s style of holding and hitting is so boring, I will be the interim sleeping champion and take a nap just to get through the fight. 🙂
Sure, why not. It’s about time for more intermediate titles….
How is this in the “best interests” of “the fans”? Fans hate interim and all other kinds of bogus titles. So when Fury and Usyk fight for so-called “undisputed” status the WBO and WBA will be creating dispute with bogus secondary titles. So fed up with this nonsense, we need the post-belt era now.
I do think that, although rare, certain set of circumstances exist where making an interim champion is fine, but this isn’t one of them. I also think that the WBA pretty much ruined the term for the foreseeable future so anytime we hear about an interim champion, well all kind of get sick.
Lucie, I agree there is definitely a place for an Interim Champion. Ironically, Usyk going to be at home during a war would have been one. However, he didn’t stay away long enough to make the Title dormant. For me, the only other excuse would be injury. If you’re going to be out for over a year, then have the #1 & #2 fight for an Interim title that they must defend when the real Champion returns to health.
Usyk looking to fully unify the Titles certainly doesn’t qualify and having an Interim Title will be meaningless to the fans and will no doubt cost the winner sanctioning fees. This is simply a money grab by the WBO.
That’s a good point. Had Usyk been out all year dealing with the war, then making an interim champion would have been fine because there’s no way you’re going to strip him under those circumstances. I agree with the case of injury and I also think that if you have a champion who is due a mandatory but has an opportunity to fight for a title in another weight class that it’s fine so you don’t have to sit around wondering if/when they’re coming back and you don’t hold them back from probably a big payday either.
Scott, yes, that’s how it should be done – Only once the title has been vacated should #1 & @2 fight for the title. Not before.
Then yes, if the vacating champion returns the new champion must defend against the returning previous champion.
Yeah, fight fans are crazy about splintered titles and awarding belts to other fighters.
Parker beats Joyce. Joe is ponderous and slow. Side stepping is not Parker’s forte but he should be able to Lomochenko this nub. Joyce was losing every round to Dubuois until the injury to Dubuois eye. If Parker hits hard enough he can stop Joe. Joe was stunned by Dubuois. Juggernaught timber?
Joyce dominated Dubois with the jab Kurtis, and Joyce was never in danger. Short words: it was an easy fight and with Parker the same could happen because he doesn’t have a punching power to intimidate Joyce
I thought the same thing with the post that said Joyce was losing every round….that wasn’t the fight that I saw !!
Smart move by Warren, now he might have two champions, after let them have faced each other. But honestly, is a fair move because the belts are gonna be dancing among 3 guys in at least 2 more years, just assuming Usyk fight Fury this year, then 2023 the rematch, if Fury wins we might have Fury vs Joshua 1 and 2, so when the other guys may have a chance for a good payday?
I hear what you’re saying Burucho, but I wonder, hypothetically, how much more attractive is Joyce – Dubois 2, if it’s a ‘unification’ of WBO interim champion and secondary WBA champion, if you have an undisputed heavyweight champion?
It’s complicated when you have unified/undisputed champions I’ll definitely admit that. But they don’t last very long. You saw what happened with Josh Taylor and even if plays out exactly how you set it up there, I doubt if it plays out that way with an intact undisputed champion. Someone (probably the IBF) will strip one of them.
That is my point Lucie, what about parallei we have a bunch of good fights disputing the bastard titles? Winner of Ortiz vs Ruiz against winner of Joyce vs Parker or Wilder vs Helenius winner for the WBA hold by Dubois?
Then what?
Just what boxing needs…by sanctioning body clowns.
The WBO love Frank Warren, always have, always will.
The worst part about this fiasco is that, as is often the case, these “championship designations” are in direct contradiction to the rules of the very organizations that award them.
An “interim” championship, per the rules of those organizations that designate them, is invariably predicated on the inactivity of the “true” champion. Oleksandr Usyk defended his WBO title *during this calendar month.* He suffered no injury that would prevent his next defense, nor has a known illness that would preclude one.
Oddly enough, now the only sanctioning body to have never recognized an “interim” heavyweight champion is the IBF… the only organization to have actually been adjudged guilty of corruption in a court of law.
For once, I’m glad to see an interim title being contested. Joyce deserves a title shot after the big win over Dubois. Why should Dubois be a “champion” of sorts after being kayoed by Joyce, while the latter lumbers on in obscurity?
Fighters need to stop paying these fees to fight for an intern title. They mean nothing. It would be one thing if it guaranteed them a world title match, but it doesnt. Its just a contenders title with fees.
We don’t need interims. We just need these damn guys to FIGHT.
I kind of agree..
i can not even get interested in this fight these titles are bogus