Fury Vs. Usyk Talks Deteriorate
According to Alexander Krassyuk, discussions to organize the highly anticipated undisputed heavyweight championship bout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have come to a halt, resulting in the cancellation of the fight.
The clash between Fury and Usyk could have been an extremely important event for boxing across the globe since both fighters currently possess all four major heavyweight world titles.
Fury defeated Deontay Wilder and became the new WBC champion. He continued his winning streak by claiming victory in a thrilling trilogy fight in 2021.
BREAKING: Fury vs Usyk is OFF! ❌pic.twitter.com/xeLc0NPSBt
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) March 22, 2023
In contrast, having previously been the undisputed cruiserweight champion, Usyk has emerged as Fury’s primary competitor in the heavyweight division.
Usyk moved up to heavyweight and claimed the IBF, WBO, and WBA titles by defeating Anthony Joshua in 2021, and he successfully defended those titles with a dominant victory over Joshua in August of that year.
Fury had publicly asked Usyk to accept a 70/30 split, which Usyk agreed to only if Fury would make a substantial donation to the Ukrainian relief effort.
However, despite negotiations, the two sides could not reach an agreement, and Usyk’s promoter announced that the talks had finally broken down.
Oleksandr Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk on Tyson Fury fight being off: “It went too far. After Usyk accepted 70/30, Fury started to think he can put a saddle on his neck and start riding Usyk… He tries to avoid it by putting so many obstacles in front of the deal.” [@talkSPORT]
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 22, 2023
According to the WBA, if Usyk doesn’t have signed contracts for the Fury fight by April 1st, 2023, he is required to start negotiating a defense against Daniel Dubois who is the mandatory challenger.
And that has left the boxing community disappointed.
Social Media Reaction
Fury will go down as one of the worst heavyweights of his generation. Fought a trilogy against a one trick pony and has ducked the two biggest fights going. Just like his brother. He's all talk.
— Alex Habberley (@alex_habbs87) March 22, 2023
Fury is running from the “middleweight”
He will avoid media who challenge him on this, while trying to sell a fight against a Charles Martin or someone of that level.
If this fight doesn’t happen it’s all on Fury and the fans need to punish him by not buying tickets or the PPV.
— Joseph (@thfc31) March 22, 2023
What an absolute shambles. Always quite liked Fury, but must admit I'm really getting fed up with him. Although boxing has its history of this kinda thing to be fair.
— Scott Whiteford (@MrWhiteford) March 22, 2023