By Barry Holbrook: Promoter Frank Warren says the negotiation between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk won’t go past this week for the April 29th fight.
Warren says the fighters have to wrap their heads around the fact that there’s only so much money in the pot for their fight, and that’s how it is. As such, if the Fury-Usyk negotiations cannot conclude this week, they’ll have to fight at another time, whenever that is.
It’s unclear who’s to blame for the Fury vs. Usyk deal not getting made. Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) reportedly had reached a deal earlier with the Saudis, but when it came to Fury, he asked for too much money, according to Eddie Hearn, which sent the fight falling backward to the UK, where there was less money.
“I would say it’s not going to go past the end of this week, that’s for sure, because the proposed date is April 29,” said Frank Warren to talkSPORT Boxing about the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk negotiations.
“I have a pot, and out of that pot, I can only pay what’s in it, and if it’s not enough money, the fight won’t happen; we’re running a business,” Warren said.
It would be interesting to know how much less Fury & Usyk will make now that their fight isn’t going to be staged in Saudi Arabia. For the undisputed heavyweight clash, you would expect for both fighters to make a fortune, but given the absence of a tremendous site fee now the fight isn’t being staged in the Middle East, Fury and Usyk will need to be satisfied with what money there is for Wembley venue.
If Eddie Hearn is right, Fury would be to blame for the Usyk fight failing to happen by asking for too much money from the Saudis and then being stuck with even less money fighting at Wembley Stadium in London.
Was Fury too greedy? It’s hard to say, but it obviously would have been nice if he’d made his side of the deal with the Saudis after Usyk had.
“The two fighters have got to get their heads around the fact that it’s worth what it’s worth. It’s all coming to a head now, but it’s still not done,” said Warren Fury and Usyk.
“You need the agreement of both boxers to make it happen, and at the moment, we haven’t got that.”
