The promoter of Oleksandr Usyk has revealed that his charge was willing to accept a smaller portion of the revenue from a potential fight with Tyson Fury but that the latter rejected that proposal.
Alexander Krassyuk informed talkSPORT during a phone call on Wednesday that the holdup in negotiations for the undisputed heavyweight championship is on Fury’s end, not Usyk’s.
It is the latest development in a saga that has seemingly turned south in the past several weeks after it became clear that the fight would not take place in the Middle East, where both fighters would have stood to receive gargantuan paydays.
The organizers have targeted the fight for April 29 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Krassyuk said he had an agreement with Fury’s backers—Frank Warren’s Queensberry and Bob Arum’s Top Rank—to split the revenue down the middle but then Fury balked. Krassyuk said that his team then acquiesced to a 60-40 split, on the condition that the winner of the fight takes 60. Krassyuk said Fury rejected that as well.
“We initially agreed for 50/50,” Krassyuk said, “But then Tyson was asking for some bigger money.
“So, [we] made it clear that we are ready to go 60/40, but the winner takes 60. That was our latest offer.”
Asked if Fury turned down that proposal, Krassyuk answered, “Yes, exactly.”
Krassyuk suggested that Fury is demanding a specific financial “figure,” which may be why negotiations have dragged on in such a protracted manner. Referencing an interview Warren gave on talkSPORT on Tuesday, Krassyuk said he agrees with the veteran promoter that there is no point in moving forward with the fight if the fighters are not satisfied by the sum that the fight will actually generate. Krassyuk made it clear Usyk is comfortable getting whatever pay that comes out from his split. On the other hand, Krassyuk thinks Fury is looking for a flat amount.
“Frank Warren said he’s got a pot and he needs to get the agreement of both parties to participate, and if the money in the pot is not enough it won’t happen,” Krassyuk said. “I completely agree with it. On our side, we have nothing more to add.
“We are not asking for a figure, we are asking for a split and probably the split doesn’t work well if someone is asking for a figure, and I can definitely say that it’s not our party. We want this fight as much as possible. We have said that we want this fight to happen as much as possible and we are in the position to share whatever the fight generates. If it generates a lot, then we are happy to share it. If it doesn’t, it is what it is.”
“But it’s all about the glory, it’s all about the legacy, it’s all about the huge thing, the fight has never happened before so we are really thirsty to make it happen,” Krassyuk continued. “But boxing is a sport of two men and if only Usyk gets into the ring, there won’t be a match for undisputed. It will be shadowboxing of the unified champion.
“What can I say? We are open, we are ready to go. Maybe someone wants to avoid the danger and to stay in a comfortable position. I don’t know, and I really don’t care. If Tyson doesn’t show up, OK, we still have the belts and we go our way.”
Krassyuk offered a mixed response on his thoughts of whether or not the fight will materialize.
“Normally when a fighter does not want to take a fight, he asks for something impossible, so it doesn’t take place,” Krassyuk said. “On the other side, I’m really optimistic.
“Maybe Tyson is not ready yet. Maybe he is not ready mentally, maybe he’s not ready physically, whatever, I don’t know, and we don’t really care. We want to make it happen. If he doesn’t want it, we can’t make him want it. So what can I say? The fight should happen someday.”