Oleksandr Usyk Suffers Bicep Injury, Heavyweight Debut Postponed
Oleksandr Usyk‘s long-awaited heavyweight debut will have to wait some more after it was announced that he was injured.
The former undisputed cruiserweight champion suffered a bicep injury and will not be able to fight on May 25. Usyk was supposed to face former title challenger Carlos Takam in the main event of a Matchroom Boxing card from Maryland. The fight was going to be streamed in the United States on DAZN.
UPDATE — Due to a bicep injury, @usykaa has been forced to postpone his heavyweight debut against Carlos Takam, scheduled for May 25. An announcement regarding our Maryland show will be made shortly. #UsykTakam @DAZN_USA
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) May 7, 2019
There is no word on what will happen with the entire show, which had a number of notable names scheduled to fight on the card. Undefeated heavyweight prospect Filip Hrgovic was supposed to fight Gregory Corbin. The lone world title fight on the card was a unification bout between Jessica McCaskill and Anahi Sanchez with the WBA and WBC junior welterweight titles on the line. Also on the card was unbeaten prospect Otha Jones III having his second pro bout.
Usyk would be fighting at heavyweight for the first time as a pro after winning all four of the major world titles at cruiserweight. Usyk became the undisputed champion last year when he defeated Murat Gassiev to win the World Boxing Super Series. After winning the tournament, Usyk successfully defended his titles in November when he knocked out Tony Bellew.