Usyk’s promoter reveals ‘unacceptable’ Tyson Fury demands that led to collapse

An official announcement confirming the fight was thought to be close over the weekend but on Wednesday morning, it emerged talks between the two camps had collapsed with Usyk shutting down his fight camp in response.

Usyk accepted Fury’s demands for a 70 per cent split of the fight purse with Wembley Stadium lined up to host their undisputed clash on 29 April.

But further complications have seen the fight called off, as confirmed by Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk.

‘The reason for that is it went too far,’ he told talkSPORT.

‘There was a feeling that after Usyk accepted 70/30 Tyson Fury started to think he can put a saddle on his neck and start riding Usyk as much as he can. It is not right.

‘Usyk accepted the 70/30 split. He was so loyal and he was so willing to make this fight happen. But this fight is not about Tyson Fury. It is about the WBC belt and expanding his collection.

‘If it is so complicated that Tyson tries to avoid it by putting so many obstacles in front of making the deal, then there is no need to put more effort into it.

‘The only thing that stays in my mind is that undisputed stays our highest priority and we will do our best to make it happen within the shortest period of time and whoever is the temporary holder of the WBC belt, we will try to make it happen.’

Usyk holds the IBF, WBA and WBO titles he took from Anthony Joshua in 2021, with Fury in possession of the WBC and Ring Magazine straps.

A rematch clause is thought to have been a key sticking point in negotiations with Fury’s team eager to remove it from the contract.

While he did not reveal specific details, Krassyuk went onto explain there was a ‘list’ of further demands made by Fury that eventually torpedoed their fight.

‘If I start telling you the list of things he wanted, 15 minutes would not be enough,’ Usyk’s promoter said.

‘There was a list of things he wanted to get in his favour which were absolutely unacceptable and complete disrespect to the unified champion and former undisputed champion.’

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