The WBO has given the camps of Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk 10 days to reach an agreement for a fight or purse bids will be called.
"The parties are hereby granted 10 days upon issuance of this notice to negotiate and reach an agreement for the WBO heavyweight mandtory championship contest between Joshua/Usyk, or a purse bid ceremony will be called immediately per WBO Rules and Regulations of World Championship Contests," a statement on the WBO website read.
Since the memo was dated Friday, May 21, the camps will have until May 31 to strike a deal or purse bids will be called.
This comes after the buildup to a massive undisputed heavyweight championship tilt between unified champ Joshua and WBC titleholder Tyson Fury was suddenly halted due to former champion Deontay Wilder being entitled to a rematch with Fury. That announcement from earlier in the week have paved the way for a Fury-Wilder trilogy and now, Joshua-Usyk fight as part of the fallout.
Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) owns the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles, having last produced a ninth-round KO of Kubrat Pulev in December. The undefeated former cruiserweight king Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) last scored a unanimous decision win over Derek Chisora in October in what was just his second fight as a heavyweight.