Tyson Fury Vs Oleksandr Usyk Fight Off as Gypsy King Blamed for Collapse in Talks
Following months of negotiations, the undisputed heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on April 29 is off, according to the Ukrainian's camp.
The historic unification bout, which would have crowned a new undisputed heavyweight champion of the world since Lennox Lewis more than 20 years ago, seemed all but confirmed after Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, teased confirmation of the fight over the weekend.
Just got off the horn with Egis Klimas, he says that team Usyk is moving off the Fury fight for April 29th, and will now pursue their mandatory obligations. "No matter how much Usyk compromised, he was pushed for more." They hope to have him back in June/July #boxing
— Steve Kim (@SteveKim323) March 22, 2023
However, talks between the two camps have since broken down, with Usyk’s manager telling boxing reporter Steve Kim this morning: ‘No matter how much Usyk compromised, he was pushed for more.’
Following a public back and forth on social media, the two fighters appeared to have agreed to a 70/30 purse split in favour of Fury, with discussions also taking place over neither side having a rematch clause in their contract.
But despite the favourable terms for the Gypsy King and Fury himself insisting last week that the clash was ‘definitely on’, it appears the two camps could not agree on certain terms and negotiations have tanked.
‼️ Tyson Fury says the Oleksandr Usyk undisputed fight is "definitely" a go for April 29th…
[📽️ @Tyson_Fury] pic.twitter.com/cgCFRe1zWw— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 14, 2023
Reports suggest that Warren is still confident that negotiations can be resolved in time to set up the clash, however, if terms are not agreed then it appears the Usyk camp will turn their attention to a mandatory fight to defend his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight belts.
Last week, Kilmas told SNAC: ‘If this fight is going to happen, only April 29th. Or it's just going to be cancelled, and we'll go with the mandatory.’
If the Fury vs Usyk fight does not go ahead, Usyk could line up potential bouts with either Filip Hrgovic or Daniel Dubois in June or July.
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