By Charles Brun: In a sign that Tyson Fury has no desire to fight unbeaten three-belt heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for all the marbles in the division, the big 6’9″ Gypsy King has rejected a 60/40 split for the winner of his fight with the talented champ for April 29th at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk reports that WBC belt champion Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) turned down the offer of 60-40 for the winner that he had proposed to solve the impasse, but it wasn’t good enough for the big Brit, who want a “figure” rather than a split.
Fury asking for a figure for a limited pot of money in the UK means that the only way the fight would happen is if Usyk accepted what was left, which likely would be nowhere near what he would have made with the deal that he had already agreed to from the Saudis for the fight before those plans went up in smoke.
Krassyuk says it’s possible that Fury isn’t physically and/or mentally ready for the fight with Usyk at this time, so he’s pricing himself out. There were already reports that Fury had asked the Saudis for too much money and blown the deal with them.
In looking at how out of shape Fury appeared during his brother Tommy’s recent fight in Saudi Arabia last month on February 26th, there’s no way that Tyson could burn the fat off his belly in time for the April 29th fight with Usyk. No way.
With the huge money the fight could have gotten if it were staged in Saudi Arabia off the table, thanks to Fury, it meant the match would need to take place in the UK, where there wouldn’t be the same revenue.
If Fury was still looking figure, the only way the fight could happen is if Usyk was willing to take considerably less than him, which is obviously something he’s not going to do as the three-belt champion to Tyson’s lone one.
“If he doesn’t want it, we can’t make him want it,” said Alex Krassyuk to talkSPORT BOXING on the Fury vs. Usyk negotiations.
“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,” continued Krassyuk in making it clear Fury wants a dollar figure.
“We initially agreed to 50/50, but Tyson asked for bigger money.
“Maybe Tyson is not ready yet. Maybe he’s is not ready mentally; he’s not ready physically,” said Krassyuk. The fight should happen someday.”
