Tyson Fury has once again rejected Oleksandr Usyk's offer to fight.
'The Gypsy King' and 'The Cat' have been in discussions to clash since late last year. Following Usyk's win over Anthony Joshua that August, the two have been in talks. Sadly, we're no closer now than we were then.
The pair were originally in talks to fight last December, but due to an injury to the Ukrainian, the nod instead went to Derek Chisora. After Fury knocked out 'Del Boy', the two heavyweight champions faced off in the ring. Following the event, both men's managers confirmed they were hoping to fight in March.
Three months later, the two are going back and forth. For their part, Oleksandr Usyk and his team have repeatedly bashed Tyson Fury over their monetary requests to make the fight happen. The main sticking point is the split of the purses, of which the Ukrainian has stated a 50/50 split is mandatory.
However, as the champion's team has revealed, they've already increased their offer to 60/40. According to Oleksandr Usyk's manager, Tyson Fury has again declined. In an interview with TalkSport, Alex Krassyuk stated:
"What can I say? We are ready to go. Maybe someone wants to avoid the danger and stay in a comfortable position. I don't know and I really don't care. If Tyson doesn't show up, we still have the belts... We are not asking for a figure, we are asking for a split and probably the split doesn't work well if someone is asking for a figure, and I can definitely say that it's not our party."
Frank Warren admits Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk may not happen
Yesterday, Frank Warren gave his own update on Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk.
In a recent interview with TalkSport, the head of Queensbury Promotions discussed how talks are going between the two camps. Predictably, he stated that the two sides aren't very close.
The Brit also hinted that one of the two fighters was holding up the fight, but didn't say who. Along with that, Warren stated that the negotiation period for the matchup will end this week, as the targeted date is April 29th.
In an interview with TalkSport, Warren said:
"I would say it’s not going to go past the end of this week that’s for sure because the proposed date is April 29...No one wants to see this fight more than me, no one has ever promoted the four belts, it’s never happened, so it’s history making... I want it, but I can’t force people into a situation unless they’re comfortable.”