Frank Warren, promoter for WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, will do his best to get the showdown with Oleksandr Usyk back on track.
Alexander Krassyuk, promoter for WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight champion Usyk, had recently revealed that a showdown with Fury is currently a dead issue.
The fight was in deep negotiations for the last few weeks, for a showdown date of April 29 at Wembley Stadium in London.
Usyk and his handlers have accused Fury of making continuous demands after their side agreed to take a 70-30 monetary split in the Gypsy King’s favor.
According to Krassyuk, the fight is currently a dead issue and they will pursue other avenues.
“If I start telling you the list of things [Fury] wanted, one, five, ten, or 15 minutes will not be enough. There was a list of things he wanted to get in his favor that was absolutely unacceptable, which were completely disrespectful to the unified champion and former undisputed [cruiserweight] champion,” Krassyuk told Talk Sport.
“I cannot disclose the negotiations, it’s part of the ethics. So, if I start to go into the details, it won’t look good. Maybe, if the other party would be willing to take the decision to disclose what were the things then we can talk about it. At this time, I cannot do this just for this reason…. With huge regret in my heart, I must admit [the fight is off]… [Usyk] will take a short break and comply with his mandatories.”
However, Warren is not ready to close the book on their negotiations.
The veteran promoter explains that the only big sticking point is the rematch clause.
“Tyson publicly stated that we should scrap the rematch, this was to simplify the deal. Rematch clauses can be very difficult and Tyson’s been there before when a rematch blocked a fight with him and Anthony Joshua [in 2021] when Deontay Wilder took him to court. That kyboshed that fight with Joshua,” Warren told Talk Sport.
“Anyway, I convinced Tyson to take the rematch [with Usyk] and he did. So I told them on Sunday we’re gonna go with the rematch. Then we got into a situation with how the rematch money is gonna be split and that’s what we’ve been working on… Why can’t it be overcome if he wants the fight? We want the fight, why can’t it be overcome?… There’s no reason for this fight to be off.”
Warren indicates that Usyk and his handlers have been pressing to get a rematch clause set down – because of the amount of money involved.
If Usyk moves forward with his mandatory obligations, the first order of business is a mandatory defense against the WBA’s ‘regular’ champion, Daniel Dubois. Then there is a WBO mandatory defense against Joe Joyce, and an IBF mandatory obligation to Filip Hrgovic.
“You know why they want the rematch clause? Because it’s two paydays. Where are they gonna earn the type of money they can earn fighting Tyson twice? They aren’t gonna get that type of money to fight Filip Hrgovic, Joe Joyce or Daniel Dubois. But Tyson brings a lot of money to the table, that’s why they want it,” Warren detailed.
“We are willing to take the same deal as what they did for their rematch with Anthony Joshua. I know what that deal is so we’ll go with that, no problem with that.”