According to Alexander Krassyuk, the promoter of Oleksandr Usyk, negotiations for the highly anticipated undisputed heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Usyk have failed to reach a conclusion. As a result, the much-awaited match-up between these two formidable fighters is now officially off.
Krassyuk further stated in an interview that Usyk will now shift his focus towards defending his heavyweight titles against WBA mandatory challenger, Daniel Dubois.
In an interview with talkSPORT's Jim White on Wednesday morning, Alex Krassyuk, Oleksandr Usyk's promoter, sadly announced that they had withdrawn from negotiations for the heavyweight title fight against Tyson Fury. Krassyuk cited Fury's unreasonable demands as the primary reason for the cancellation.
Usyk currently holds the WBA, WBO, and IBF world heavyweight titles, while Fury possesses the WBC and Ring Magazine belts. The two fighters had initially agreed to a 70/30 split in Fury's favor after engaging in a back-and-forth on social media.
Despite the favorable terms agreed upon for Fury, including Usyk's request for a £1 million donation to Ukraine, Krassyuk claimed that Fury continued to make unreasonable demands. He stated that the fight was called off because Fury began to think he could dominate Usyk, even after accepting the 70/30 split, which was unfair.
Krassyuk's words imply that Usyk was not willing to accept such unreasonable demands, and he ultimately chose to pull out of negotiations for the fight.
“Usyk accepted the 70/30 split. He was so loyal and he was so willing to make this fight happen. But this fight is not about Tyson Fury. It is about the WBC belt and expanding his collection.
“If it is so complicated that Tyson tries to avoid it by putting so many obstacles in front of making the deal, then there is no need to put more effort into it.
“The only thing that stays in my mind is that undisputed stays our highest priority and we will do our best to make it happen within the shortest period of time and whoever is the temporary holder of the WBC belt, we will try to make it happen.”
Asked what Fury’s demands were, he replied: “If I start telling you the list of things he wanted, 15 minutes would not be enough.
“There was a list of things he wanted to get in his favour which were absolutely unacceptable and complete disrespect to the unified champion and former undisputed champion.”
Fury has been accused of ducking Usyk
The WBA had set a deadline for the undisputed heavyweight championship fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to be agreed upon by April; otherwise, Usyk would be ordered to defend his title against a mandatory challenger. Unfortunately, the deadline has passed, and the two undefeated fighters will not face each other in the ring, at least for now.
This means that Lennox Lewis will retain the distinction of being the last undisputed heavyweight champion for the time being. Meanwhile, Usyk is already preparing for his next fight, which is likely to be against his mandatory WBA challenger, Daniel Dubois.
However, Fury's camp is still hopeful that the fight can be salvaged. During an extraordinary interview, Frank Warren, Fury's co-promoter in the UK, expressed his confidence that obstacles such as the split for a potential rematch can be overcome. Krassyuk, who had previously announced the fight's cancellation, also returned to the discussion.