Fury Rules Out Usyk, Mauricio Sulaiman Won’t Order Fury’s Mandatory

Tyson Fury has dismissed a fight with Oleksandr Usyk on the basis that a win would do nothing for his career. 

In a fight that would see the first undisputed champion since 1999, Fury’s comments show that the belts are not his focus. The WBC heavyweight champion has expressed his desire to pursue fights that generate the most money. This was seen with the upcoming Francis Ngannou fight that is expected to earn Fury a reported $50 million. Although that may be the case, the boxing community has been desperate to see the undisputed fight. Talks over a bout in April broke down despite Usyk accepting a 70-30 offer. And yet, Fury made it clear that the financials in the fight did not make sense. In addition, given that he is expected to beat Usyk, a win would do nothing for his resume.

“Why on in the world would I want to fight [Usyk] for no money, he’s got zero personality, he’s an ugly b******d with gappy teeth and he’s half the size of me, so it’s all to gain for him and nothing to gain for me, isn’t it? If I beat him it’s ‘oh well he beat a middleweight’, if he beats me then he beat the legendary Tyson Fury and it’s for no money. And it’s not just that, he was offered the fight in Wembley in April and he didn’t take it, he ran away, looking for more money,” Fury 

In reality, getting Usyk to compromise further on a 70-30 split would be difficult. After all, he is a former undisputed cruiserweight champion who has unified the heavyweight division. And on top of that, he does remain undefeated. And there is no getting away from that. 

Fury’s Mandatory

Mauricio Sulaiman, the president of the WBC, has ruled out calling a mandatory for Fury as of now.

His comments came after the Gypsy King was criticized for not fighting Usyk as he chose to face Ngannou instead. Meanwhile, Fury’s mandatory situation has also suffered. The WBC had ordered a title eliminator between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Deontay Wilder.

However, both boxers failed to agree on terms. Wilder’s side offered a 70-30 split, while Ruiz wanted 50-50. That led to talks breaking down as the eliminator was scrapped. Although a mandatory could be called, Sulaiman ruled it out on the basis that he did not want to interfere with a potential fight with Usyk. 

“We took a definite position of ordering [Deontay] Wilder against [Andy] Ruiz for the mandatory position. That fight has not taken place. Maybe it’s not taking place, and why push for any other mandatory that does not have the level of Tyson Fury that would impede and be in the way of Fury fighting Usyk?” Sulaiman

Nevertheless, those comments are counter to what Fury has mentioned. The Gypsy King has admitted that he does not see any value in fighting Usyk, given that the latter does not have big commercial pulling power. So until those hurdles are navigated, there are still obstacles in the way of making a fight.