Eddie Hearn’s backdoor dealings led to Oleksandr Usyk vacating IBF belt, claims Carl Froch

Oleksandr Usyk's victory over Tyson Fury in May saw him become the first undisputed heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999. However, a month after his historic win, the Ukrainian voluntarily vacated the IBF title.

With Fury having activated his rematch clause following the result, 'The Cat' has a legal obligation to pursue their second fight. Despite this, the IBF ordered him to fight mandatory challenger, Daniel Dubois, or be stripped of the title.

To avoid being stripped, Usyk chose to vacate the belt, and Dubois will now face off against Anthony Joshua for the IBF world title on Sept. 21 in an all-British clash. But former world champion Carl Froch believes Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, was involved in the IBF's decision to order Usyk to face Dubois.

Froch's claim came during a recent interview with iFL TV, where he said:

"'AJ' and Dubois, who have both lost to Usyk, are gonna fight for the world title. Well hang on a minute, the world champion is Oleksandr Usyk. He's the undisputed heavyweight world champion. You're taking one of his belts off him when it doesn't really need to be." [14:55-15:06]

He continued:

"You know as well as I do it's politics. You know Eddie Hearn spoke to Lindsey Tucker or whoever he spoke to and they've made that title become vacant so [Joshua] and Dubois can fight for a world title. It's a f**king paper title." [16:18-16:35]

Watch Froch discuss the IBF stripping Usyk below:

---

Tyson Fury's promoter believes he knows how to beat Oleksandr Usyk in rematch

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are set to face off in a highly anticipated rematch in December, with the former WBC champion eager to bounce back from the first loss of his professional career.

Upon reflection of the result, 'The Gypsy King' surprisingly stated that the fight was easy, something that his opponent wholeheartedly disagreed with.

Ahead of their second clash, Fury's longtime promoter Frank Warren shared a confident preview for his client's return. Warren was recently interviewed by The Unibet Lowdown show, where he said:

"All he's got to do is what he did in the earlier rounds and stay focused... He didn't get the decision but it was a close fight. I know he genuinely feels that he should have won it. I'm not talking about the decision, I'm talking about he should have won it and could have won it. And he knows what he's got to do next time to make that happen."

Watch Frank Warren preview Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2 below (14:10):