Former heavyweight world champion, David Haye, has given his thoughts on the recent collapse of the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight.
Fury looked all set to take on Usyk in April until negotiations suddenly fell apart. The bout would have crowned the first heavyweight undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis back in 1999, but teams reportedly couldn’t agree over rematch financials and the rest is history.
The Ukrainian’s team later revealed that they were the ones to officially ‘pull the plug’ on the deal, however ‘The Gypsy King’ has still taken his share fair of flack for the fight falling through.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Haye believes the only reason a fight of that magnitude doesn’t happen, is when somebody ‘doesn’t want it’.
“I don’t tend to listen to too much of the he said she said, it just gets frustrating. You hear one thing, you get excited, then it’s off.
I think there is a reason the fight hasn’t been made yet, there is a reason, somebody doesn’t want to do it. They both said they do but somebody doesn’t.
I’ve been in many a situation where there has been a big fight and I’ve found a way to make it happen. You agree what you need to agree, if you both want it you meet in the middle and make the fight happen.
I thought it was overly generous of Usyk to accept the split [70-30] that he accepted, that’s someone who really wants to make the fight. That’s a step in the right direction in terms of somebody wanting it, but it still didn’t happen after that.”
On whether fans will ever get to see the matchup, ‘The Haymaker’ isn’t holding his breath.
“I’ll believe it when I see them both in the ring. I’m trying not to get excited.”
Fury’s US promoter, Bob Arum, has confirmed that talks are ongoing for the two to meet in Saudi Arabia at the end of the year, but, like Haye, fans won’t get too excited until the first bell rings.