By Duncan Johnstone

Joseph Parker's handlers are adamant they have the first rights to the WBO title fight if the belt is stripped off troubled champion Tyson Fury.

Duco Events are eager to chase the WBO belt, saying they have a deal "95 percent done" to bring Mexican Andy Ruiz to New Zealand for a December 10 fight.

That is dependent on the belt being vacant but that appears a formality given Fury's ongoing problems.

The WBO route is more appealing than Parker's mandatory rights to fight IBF champion Anthony Joshua because of the historic value of fighting on New Zealand shores and the easier proposition Ruiz presents.

But there's a promoters scrap going on right now that might rival anything that comes from the eventual outcome when champions and challengers eventually get inside the ring.

Parker's handlers Duco Events have put their gloves on and are swinging. They might be lightweights on the global scene, but they reckon they have the rules to back up their case – and a heavyweight partner in veteran American promoter Bob Arum who is the man behind Ruiz and is eager for the New Zealand fight to happen.

As reported on Sunday, Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has thrown a potential spanner in the works for Duco by suggesting he may be able to convince officials that the WBO belt should be added to the IBF, IBO and WBA titles up for grabs if Joshua fights Wladimir Klitschko.

Klitschko is suddenly available after Fury pulled out of their rematch for a second time. That action, based on "mental health issues" and now backed by two alleged drug violations, endangers both his belts.

Lonergan dismissed Hearns' theory saying WBO rules stated that if the champion is stripped, the next two highest ranked boxers fight for the vacant title.

Parker is No 1 with the WBO, Klitschko No 2 and Ruiz No 3.

Lonergan insists that If Klitschko takes on Joshua in either November or December as touted, that enables Duco to engineer a fight with Ruiz around the same time, taking Klitschko out of the WBO equation.

Hearn was at it again on Sunday, telling Sky Sport in the UK: "Our priority at the moment is to fight Klitschko for all the belts. Once we get a deal in place, which I'm confident of, then it's a case of going to the governing bodies and asking if they want it for their world title. I would think most would say 'yes please.'

"Parker has an interesting proposition. Does he hang tight? Does he wait? Does he take the fight with Joshua if we don't fight Klitschko? There are so many different connotations as always in boxing."

Rules are made to be broken and money rules in boxing like no other sport.

Duco went on the front foot on Monday, issuing the WBO rules to media around the world to emphasise what they believe are their rights.

The regulations around stripping belts are long-winded but certainly back up the increasing suggestions that Fury's time as a WBO champion is as good as over.

In terms of what happens when a title becomes vacant, the key point to the WBO's rule 20 reads: "The two Best Classified Contenders Available as determined by the Championship Committee shall be granted a period not to exceed thirty (30) days to negotiate a contract for the vacant World Championship."

Duco's belief is that the only way a desperate Klitschko, as the WBO No 2, can fight for the vacant WBO title is against No 1 ranked Parker.

But with Hearn adamant he's got a "60-40" show of getting Klitschko into the ring against Joshua, that leaves Ruiz as the next best "classified contender available" to fight Parker.

That's why Duco are channelling their energies down that route – for now.