Eddie Hearn has blamed Tyson Fury for the failure to secure an undisputed heavyweight fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
The duo were in negotiations for an undisputed fight at Wembley in April only for talks to break down.
Usyk had publicly accepted a 70-30 split, terms which were heavily against him, despite bringing three belts to the table.
As part of that, the Ukrainian had reportedly demanded the same split for the winner in a rematch, with Fury refusing to budge and wanting 50-50 instead.
The overwhelming consensus was that Fury had changed the goalposts, especially in light of the fact that he has now chosen to face Francis Ngannou on October 28th, 2023, in Saudi.
In a fight where Ngannou, a former UFC heavyweight champion, will be making his boxing debut, Hearn made it clear who was to blame.
“Tyson Fury turned down the Oleksandr Usyk fight. The most important fight in boxing, to fight an MMA fighter who’s never had a fight before in his life in Saudi Arabia.
“We’ve got to be honest, Tyson Fury cares about one thing only – the money. He’s beaten Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder – that’s his wins.
“He needs to beat Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua, and then we can talk about him – as I believe he is – as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time,” Hearn
Provided that Fury does overcome Ngannou, Hearn admitted that he still longs for a mega-domestic clash between Anthony Joshua and Fury.
Attempts had been made on two occasions to make the fight happen. Fury’s camp had offered ‘AJ’ 60-40 before the Derek Chisora fight.
However, Joshua was coming off two losses to Usyk, coupled with alleged unrealistic deadlines, as the fight never got made.
Fury allegedly made another 60-40 offer for a fight in September. However, Joshua’s team went ahead with Dillian Whyte, as the focus appears to be on a potential fight with Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia.
But once those hurdles are out of the way, a fight between Fury and ‘AJ’ could follow.
“On August 12th, Anthony Joshua will fight Dillian Whyte on DAZN. After that, he will fight Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia, and then it has to be Tyson Fury,” Hearn