With the announcement of the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury fight having remained absent, Usyk’s promoter recently clarified how the negotiations between their team and Fury’s have crumbled down in an interview with TalkSport.
Though talks between Usyk (20-0, 13 KO’s) and Fury (33-0-1, 24 KO’s) had officially commenced in January, the two teams have been at odds for nearly two months, and though talks are still ongoing at the moment, the negotiations seem to be close to collapsing. Alex Krassyk, promoter of unified Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk made it clear that it was not their fault of the negotiations seems to be tumbling down into oblivion.
“We initially agreed for 50/50, but then Tyson (Fury) started to ask for more money so we made it clear that we were ready to go 60/40, with the winner taking 60.” Alex Krassyk explained. “That was our latest offer.“
When asked on whether the fight would commence, Krassyk seemed both uncertain and positive. “I am experienced and I have been here for a while. Normally, when a fighter does not want to take a fight, he will ask for something impossible.“
However, the Ukranian promoter also retained a fair bit of hope given the negotiations seemed close to breaking down altogether. “I am optimistic, and maybe Tyson is not ready yet. Maybe he’s not ready mentally, maybe he’s not ready physically. I don’t now, and we don’t really care. We want to make it happen. If he doesn’t want the fight, we can’t make him want it.“
Alex Krassyk seemed to be less than worried if a deal couldn’t be made with the WBC Heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury. He reiterated that Usyk would simply move to his next mandatory opponent if talks for an undisputed fight fell through.
With the IBF having recently tried to match Filip Hrgovic as Usyk’s mandatory opponent before they rescinded their order for the undisputed Heavyweight talks to commence, it is likely that Hrgovic will again be poised to face Usyk as his next mandatory opponent.
With Usyk having three world titles (WBA, WBO and IBF), he will have plenty of opponents to face. British Olympic silver medalist, Joe Joyce (15-0, 14 KO’s), is currently the WBO’s interim champion of the Heavyweight division, and he and Usyk have a rivalry stemming back to the days when they competed as semi-pro’s in the World Series of Boxing. If by chance a fight couldn’t be arranged with Hrgovic, Joyce would likely be tipped to face Usyk instead.
Another Brit – and stablemate of Joyce, Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18 KO’s), will also be a candidate at some point with him currently being the WBA ‘Regular’ champion of the division, though it is noteworthy that ‘Regular’ champions aren’t truly considered mandatories unless the WBA deems it so and orders Usyk to fight him.
Though fans may be disappointed not to see an undisputed Heavyweight fight occur in the near future, the possibility of the match occurring is not unlikely. Given the negotiations have gotten this close, the fight seems to be more up to Fury’s team to clarify their position and make due with the reasonable offers that were in play.
