Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury fight in danger as talks stall

Next month’s proposed Undisputed Heavyweight Championship fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury at London’s Wembley Stadium is in jeopardy, sources tell ESPN as the fighters continue to haggle over points after splitting 70-30 in Fury’s favor for the net proceeds.

Usyk has closed his training camp, according to sources, and will regroup with his squad to plan his next fight. The 36-year-old Ukrainian holds the WBA, WBO and IBF titles while Fury is the WBC champion.

Fury promoter Frank Warren and Usyk promoter Alexander Krasiuk discussed the stalled negotiations during a joint radio interview Wednesday on Talksport. Warren said he received an email on Tuesday from Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, that said, “Team Usyk is out of further negotiations.”

“The fight has been called off,” Krasyuk said. “The reason for that was because he went too far. There was a feeling that after accepting Usyk 70-30, Tyson Fury started thinking he could put a saddle around his neck and start riding Usyk as much as he could. It’s not right. I mean, before Usyk split 70-30 courtesy of.

“…if it’s too complicated for Tyson to try to avoid by putting too many hurdles up front while we’re closing the deal, then we don’t have to do any more and we go on our way. … there was a list of things.” [Fury] He wanted to get a favor which was totally unacceptable, and for which he was completely disrespectful to the Almohads [heavyweight] Undisputed champion and racer [cruiserweight] hero.”

However, Warren said the two sides had ironed out all the issues on Sunday except for the split of net revenue in the rematch. According to sources, both sides have agreed on a two-legged rematch clause that the loser can activate. Usyk’s team pushed for the same 70-30 split, but in his favor, for a rematch in the United Kingdom if Fury was defeated.

Sources said Fury asked for a 50-50 split in the UK, where he would be a major star, if he suffered his first professional defeat. When Usyk signed to fight Anthony Joshua in September 2021 in London — a fight he won to win three heavyweight titles — it included a rematch clause in which Joshua continued to work out a 50-50 split, according to sources.

The issue of the rematch requirement only concerns a return bout in the United Kingdom. If the rematch takes place in the Middle East, where hefty site fees are the norm for big boxing events, each side will make its own deal. Usyk and Joshua ended up in Saudi Arabia in a rematch in August 2022, which Usyk also won via decision. Fury and Usyk held talks with officials from Saudi Arabia before turning their attention to the United Kingdom

Last week, Fury posted a video on Twitter with a message to Usyk: “How about there being no rematch clause for both of us?… Never worry about what’s going to happen in the future or how many bucks you can get after being defeated. Don’t worry about the fight.” There’s no rematch clause. Winner takes glory, loser goes home. How about that? I agree.”

Usyk quickly replied, “Grady Bailey…the condition comes from you, not mine. Stop whining and spinning around. Be a man. Sign the contract or loosen the belt. I need undisputed—and don’t play your stupid games.”

It was three days after representatives for both Fury and Usyk informed WBA President Gilberto Mendoza that a tentative agreement had been reached hours before the March 10 5pm ET deadline to delay requesting a Usyk-Dubois bout that would scupper plans. Three mandatory challengers await their shot at Usyk, but England’s Daniel Dubois holds the top spot in the rotational system used for unified boxing champions.

The WBA then set a deadline of April 1 to receive signed contracts. Now, the WBA is ready to order a fight between Usyk and Dubois unless a final effort is made to salvage a fight against Fury.

“Rematch clauses can be very difficult, and Tyson was there before when the rematch prevented a fight with him and Anthony Joshua when Deontay Wilder took him to court,” Warren said, referring to the arbitration ruling in 2021 that led to a third outrage. Wilder fight. Anyway, I convinced Tyson to take a rematch [with Usyk] him too.

“Then we got into a situation as to how we were going to split the rematch money and that’s what we were working on. … Why couldn’t it be beat then [Usyk] wants to fight? We want to fight, so why can’t it be overcome? … There is no reason for this fight to stop.”

Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) kept busy in December with a 10th-round TKO of Derek Chisora ​​to retain the heavyweight title. After Fury stopped Dillian White in six rounds this past April, he announced his retirement, but it only lasted four months.

Fury, 34, defeated another Ukrainian, Wladimir Klitschko, to win the unified heavyweight championship in 2015. He was out of the ring for nearly three years as he dealt with alcohol and drug abuse along with depression. During that hiatus, Fury’s weight increased to 400 lbs.

Fury returned to the ring with two victories over soft opposition before surviving two knockdowns against Wilder to clinch a draw in a fight most observers thought he had won. Fury left no doubt in the rematch, a seventh-round TKO to win the WBC title. The three-way fight, which Fury won via an 11th round KO, was named ESPN’s Fight of the Year and Knockout of the Year for 2021.

Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) won the Undisputed Cruiserweight Championship with a unanimous decision victory over Murat Gassiev in 2018 before moving up to heavyweight in 2019. He defeated Olympic gold medalist Chisora ​​in his second heavyweight fight before signing on for a bout. With Anthony Joshua for three heavyweight titles.