Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight next month is off
Tyson Fury's fight with Oleksandr Usyk has been cancelled, it's been announced.
Yep, the long-awaited bout between the two heavyweight champions next month is off after a disagreement between the two camps.
Usyk, who holds the WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles, was set to get in the ring with WBC champion Fury on 29 April.
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But it appears that fans will have to wait a little while longer if they are to ever see them go at it.
The Ukrainian's rep Egis Klimas has put the blame for the cancellation firmly at Fury's door, saying that he and his team just 'pushed' things too far.
He said: “No matter how much Usyk compromised, he was pushed for more."
Instead, he said that Usyk is likely to look for a mandatory defence of his titles this summer.
The news comes off the back of weeks and months of protracted negotiations between the two fighters.
Fury, who is known for his fairly unique approach to the fight game, recently demanded a 70-30 split, and set deadlines for Usyk to agree or else lose more money.
The Gypsy King also said that he didn't want a rematch clause in the contract because he felt it should be a winner takes all fight.
And earlier this month, Klimas said he wasn't sure whether the fight would go ahead because of the demands coming out of Fury's camp.
Speaking to SNAC, he said: "We've been in negotiations for the fight for three months, and Tyson Fury's side was coming back and forth with, 'We need this, we need that, Tyson wants this, he doesn't want to give tickets, the split', this and that and that.
"We're tired, and we have obligations with other mandatory fighters, we don't want to hold them. We had the obligations with the WBA.
"Most likely Tyson was trying to pull a scam, bluffing, he came out in the media and said, '70-30, take it or leave it'.
"And before the negotiation, from Tyson's people, from Tyson's attorney, he came in and said Tyson wants to put in a rematch clause in the contract, and we said, 'No problem, let's put the rematch clause'."
Previously, Anthony Joshua's promoter Eddie Heard came out and called Fury 'greedy'.
In an interview with IFL TV, he told Fury to 'f**k off', claiming he wants too much money and just 'isn't the draw' he thinks he is.
Hearn said: "When are you guys out there going to start understanding? [Fury says] 'It's not about the money, I'll fight him for free, as long as the tickets are free for the general public'. F*** off."
Despite saying he was going into a social media blackout ahead of the bout, I don't imagine it will be long until we hear from Fury himself about what went wrong.
Topics: Tyson Fury, Boxing, Sport
Dominic Smithers