With this week being the deadline set by Frank Warren if the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk Fight is to go ahead on the date of April 29, Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk has stated that Fury has “turned down” an offer of a 60-40 cash split to go to the winner of the fight we all want to see.
Speaking with Talk Sport, Krassyuk said Fury wanted more than 50 percent of the purse, and that the latest offer their side have offered is 60-40 to the winner. But Krassyuk says Fury has rejected this more than generous offer.
‘We made it clear we are willing to go 60-40 but with the 60 going to the winner,” Krassyuk said, adding how Fury has turned down this offer.
Krassyuk says he feels Fury “might not be ready” for April. either from a mental or physical standpoint, but that he and Team-Usyk “cannot make him fight ”
So what’s going on? Does Fury really want this fight or not? 60-40 to the winner does seem more than fair, especially as Fury has said numerous times how he will “smash middleweight” Usyk. But is this just talk and no substance from Fury? Or is Fury simply guilty of being greedy?
It could be that there is absolutely no need to start getting pessimistic, and the fight we all want – between rival heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk – WILL happen. However, it’s safe to say we all thought, indeed hoped, the fight would have been pretty much nailed down and confirmed by now.
But here, as we approach mid-March, there is still no official venue for the fight. What’s more, this new and worrying stuff has now supposedly come from Fury. Also, a while back, Fury himself said the following to Beyond Radio:
“The talks for the Usyk fight are still ongoing. All talk and no deliverance,” Fury said. “I actually have not been on social media since October last year. I deleted the apps and won’t be returning. I like my battery life too much. I think [for] all the information that you need to know about the Usyk or any other boxing fights you’ve got to speak to the promoters. I made a vow not to get involved any more because one, it causes me stress, and two, it causes me anxiety and depression. It should be a rewarding thing, to get a big fight, you should feel good about it. But with all the talks back and forward…..it just goes on and on and on, and for someone with severe mental health issues, I don’t think it’s wise for me to get involved with this back and forth.”
That didn’t sound too great, and now we hear Fury has turned down that 60-40 offer.
We fans were led to believe that the fight was close, that the only thing to be sorted out was the venue. But Fury does seem to be haggling as far as the purse money goes.
So what’s going on? Are both sides working separately with the Saudi money men, trying to get the most cash they can for the fight? Is April 29 still a working date? Will this fight actually happen this year? All we know for sure is this: the clock is ticking .
