Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk: Undisputed fight unlikely to happen next

London’s Wembley Stadium was booked for 29 April however Alex Krassyuk says Fury has priced himself out of the bout.

Krassyuk says a 60/40 cut up to the winner was rejected by Fury and Usyk could instead face Daniel Dubois next.

“I do not assume Fury and Usyk will combat in April – or even next as Usyk has his mandatory obligations,” he said.

Fury, 34, is the WBC champion and the 36-year-old Usyk holds the WBO, WBA and IBF belts.

The WBA stated the deadline to agree the unification fight was 22:00 GMT Friday.

“After this deadline, the mandatory fight between Usyk and Daniel Dubois will be ordered to be negotiated. #Heavyweight,” the agency tweeted.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Krassyuk added: “Unless Queensberry [Fury’s promoters] somehow win a jackpot lottery and have enough cash to pay Tyson’s demands, it is very unlikely to happen.”

Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren, who represents Fury, said a decision on the combat “will be decided by this weekend”.

On Friday, Fury posted on his social media channels offering a 70/30 split.

“From every day from today that you linger or mess around, I’ll deduct one percent from the 30 per cent,” he introduced on Instagram.

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Usyk, in a later Instagram video, stated he would accept Fury’s 70/30 split if the Englishman immediately donated £1m to the people of Ukraine, and also gave up up one percent of of his purse to Ukraine for every day he delayed.

The former undisputed cruiserweight champion has received all his 20 expert bouts, whilst Fury has 33 victories and one draw on his record.

‘Usyk won’t provide up on street to greatness’
A plausible Fury-Usyk contest to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era was shut to being finalised.

Saudi Arabia was understood to be the frontrunner as host, but the new Jeddah Stadium should not be finished in the timeframe required by each champions.

Wembley Stadium was then provisionally booked and Krassyuk joined Warren on 15 February at Arsenal’s home Premier League game against Manchester City to proceed negotiations.

“Everyone was on board,” stated Krassyuk. “The solely thing that was pending was Tyson Fury’s consent, which is still pending.”

Krassyuk added a 50/50 split was initially agreed, however then Fury improved his needs and later rejected an offer which would see the winner take a larger purse.

“We haven’t heard anything from Tyson that would be the proof of his actual intention to take part in the fight in London,” he said.

“Even if Tyson says today he was dull and has realised he is doing bad matters for the battle and says let’s fight on April 29, it will still take a sure amount of time to fix the paperwork.

“Only a small passage of time will be left for promotion. A fight this big needs to be given time to promote – it is not likely.”

Fury’s team believes even if a deal can’t be agreed for April, the undisputed battle can still occur later this year once every fighter has faced their mandatory challengers.

There has now not been an undisputed heavyweight battle since 1999 – and no champion in the four-belt era.

“The fight we still want is Tyson for the undisputed,” Krassyuk added. “It’s Usyk’s objective. His reason is to go via all the challenges in the coaching camp and have 4 belts round his arm.

“I visited him at his training camp and spent quite right time there. He’s relaxed, it is his normal state of mind.

“Whatever comes, he is grateful to get it. He might be a bit disappointed, but he might not throw in the towel and provide up on his street to greatness.”

Briton Dubois first in line for Usyk
As unified champion, Usyk may now be required to defend against mandatory challengers and Dubois is first in line, said Krassyuk.

Warren, who additionally promotes Dubois, will push for the Londoner to battle Usyk next – should the Fury contest fall through.

The 25-year-old has won 19 fights and lost one. Dubois beat American Trevor Bryan in June last yr to win the ‘regular’ heavyweight title and then stopped Kevin Lerena in the third round in December, in spite of being floored three instances in the first.

Undefeated Briton Joe Joyce – who beat Dubois in 2020 – is the WBO’s number one-ranked challenger, while Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic is mandatory for Usyk’s IBF title.

The WBC is but to confirm Fury’s next mandatory. It was due to be the winner of Deontay Wilder’s fight with fellow American Andy Ruiz Jr, however there are doubts that bout will happen.

Source: BBC Sports