Eddie Hearn believes that Tyson Fury’s purse split demands for the now-collapsed Oleksandr Usyk fight surprised even his promoter, Frank Warren.
The talks for the undisputed heavyweight championship fight ended bitterly this week, with Usyk’s side pulling the plug after what they saw as ‘unacceptable’ demands.
Talks were fraught with tension ever since the financial side of things started making its way into the public eye.
With Saudi Arabia off the table and the fight set to be at Wembley Stadium, Fury demanded 70% of the purse against the unified champion, who – to the surprise of many – accepted.
Hearn believes that this was the turning point, even despite Usyk’s willingness, speaking to Boxing Social he said:
“You can always pull these interviews up, because everyone does it on me all the time. Frank Warren, a few weeks ago on TalkSPORT, said ‘it’s an easy fight to make, it’s 50/50.'”
“I honestly think that when Frank was going to make this fight, he thought it would be 50/50. And I did. But Tyson had other ideas.”
It certainly put a strain on talks, as Usyk’s side were clear that it would only apply if the fight was made on April 29, and they were said to be asking for the same split in reverse for a rematch should Usyk win.
It’s here that the talks collapsed completely, with Fury’s side only willing to move to 50/50 for a second fight, although they’ve subsequently said they never given a chance to even negotiate.
Whilst the Ukrainian’s team have said that there were a whole host of demands that led to the downfall, this is regarded as the most important.
Now, both champions go their separate ways whilst blaming each other for the failure to make the legacy-defining bout.