JOSEPH PARKER wants the next step on his incredible heavyweight run to be a shot at unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk - and not a fight for a vacant belt.

That is the opinion of his coach Andy Lee, who has helped steer the New Zealander to the cusp of a crack at the same WBO belt he lost seven years ago against Anthony Joshua.

The 33-year-old is on a six-fight winning steak since his 2022 knockout defeat to Joe Joyce in Manchester and his last three fights have been victories over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole - a run that not many fighters at any weight could better.

And the WBO have responded by mandating Parker to fight for their heavyweight title, which is currently owned by the Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk, who also holds the WBA and WBC straps. But there is a chance that Usyk may choose not to fight Parker and instead pursue a rematch with the IBF champion Daniel Dubois, who he stopped in August 2023, thus vacating his WBO belt.

Lee, however, is hoping Usyk decides against facing Dubois next and instead fulfills his mandatory obligations with the WBO.

“I think he deserves his title fight now,” Lee told The Ring. “I think everyone agrees on that. At least the WBO are stepping up and mandating him now.

“People want Joe to fight Usyk. People have seen Dubois fight Usyk already. It wasn't that long ago. People have already seen Usyk-Dubois and Usyk won by stoppage.

“For us, our first preference is to fight Usyk, definitely. If not, we'll fight for the vacant title but we want to fight Usyk, that’s our aim.”

Should Usyk take on Dubois it would be down to the WBO to order a fight for the vacant title between Parker and somebody else. The 12-0 (17) Australian Justis Huni is currently ranked at No1 and is fit again after a recent hand injury. At No.2 is British prodigy Moses Itauma, still only 20 years old, who has been linked with a fight with Huni for an interim title in the past.

Lee added: “Huni is the number one contender. I’ve seen the talk about Moses being lined up to fight Huni but if I was Huni’s people I wouldn’t be fighting Itauma now. Why wouldn’t he stay No.1 and then potentially fight a legend in an Australia v New Zealand clash for the world heavyweight title?”

Itauma and his manager Francis Warren have made no secret of their desire to beat Mike Tyson’s record to become the youngest world heavyweight champion in history but he currently only has until May 19 this year to do so.

With the belts tied up by Usyk and Dubois, the opportunity seemed to have passed Itauma by but should that WBO title become vacant, perhaps the stars would align for Itauma to box Parker for the belt before that very specific deadline.

Parker and Itauma have already shared the ring, albeit in sparring, during the Auckland man’s preparation for his victory over Zhang last year and Lee thinks a real fight between the two could damage the youngster for the rest of his career.

He said: “Look, Moses is a hell of a fighter but if he were to step in with Joe Parker it’s a big ask for him. It's a big step up for him. In fact it's a massive step up for him.

“You're daring be great and all, but you're also running the risk of hurting him. You're getting a young fighter very hurt. He's only a young guy and then how does that affect him for the rest of his career? I don't know.

“I saw them spar. It was four rounds. It was very competitive. But for four rounds, everyone can be competitive. If Joe's going to do four rounds with another guy after that, and then another four rounds after that with another guy, you're going to do well. And it wasn't as if he did particularly well they were just competitive rounds. Joe probably got the better of it, but it was very competitive.

“We know him well and we really like him. To be honest we had a great time with him and we missed him when he left.”