By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk negotiations are ongoing despite earlier reports of them being dead over problems related to the rematch clause split.
According to talkSPORT, Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) has now agreed to a rematch split of 50-50, keeping the negotiations with Usyk going. It’s unclear whether Fury has set any additional roadblocks that could prevent the fight from going ahead.
Fury’s promoter Frank Warren & Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk have agreed to speak to try and overcome this latest impasse in the talks.
If the Fury-Usyk fight doesn’t come off, IBF, WBA & WBO heavyweight champion Usyk will need to defend against one of his three mandatory challengers, and he’ll likely face his WBA contender Daniel Dubois first.
It’s a winnable fight, as Dubois is slow, easy to hit, chinny, and a big block. In Dubois’ last fight, he was knocked down three times by former cruiserweight Kevin Lerena last December.
As for Fury, he’s been chomping at the bit to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Some would argue that the sole reason Fury has been so cavalier about the Usyk negotiations is that the fight that he REALLY wanted against Ngannou because it’ll make a lot of money for him, get him a ton of attention, and there’s virtually no threat to him because he’d be facing a 0-0 novice with no experience inside a boxing ring.
Earlier, Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk reported that the talks had broken off due to Fury continuing to make additional demands above those related to the purse split for the fight.
Krassyuk told Steve Kim that no matter what they agreed, Fury pushed for more. Some would interpret this as a sign of Fury not wanting the fight.
More likely, it’s a case of Fury seeing himself as the more marketable & better-known household name in the UK and worldwide compared to Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), so he’s naturally going to push for the negotiations to be in his favor from top to bottom.
It is difficult for Fury because Usyk has three times more titles than him, and his record is unmarred. Moreover, Usyk doesn’t have controversial wins in which he was seemingly knocked out by an opponent, as Fury does in two of his victories over Deontay Wilder.
“Talks to finalize the undisputed heavyweight championship fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on April 29 at London’s Wembley Stadium have broken off,” said Mike Coppinger of ESPN.
“No matter how much Usyk compromised, he was pushed for more,” Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, said to Steve Kim.
