Eddie Hearn has weighed in on a potential clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, and believes that, due to comments from Fury himself, the fight will not be for the undisputed heavyweight crown.
Fury said earlier this week that he would not be paying the sanctioning fees for the IBF title if a meeting with Usyk is agreed, leading Hearn to believe that the Ukranian will be forced to vacate the belt if a fight with ‘The Gypsy King’ is indeed to be next.
Speaking to iD Boxing, Hearn said:
“I don’t think there can be an undisputed fight. Tyson Fury’s words out of his mouth were – ‘I am not fighting for the IBF title, I am not paying the sanctioning fees, unless the pay me back the money.’ That’s not happening, so we assume the IBF title will not be on the line for that fight.”
“We think that Filip Hrgovic will now be called to fight Oleksandr Usyk for the IBF world title.”
Fury’s grievances with the IBF date all the way back to 2015, when he was stripped of the belt after being unable to complete his mandatory duties as he was contractually obligated to rematch Wladimir Klitschko after toppling the long reigning champion in Dusseldorf.
Unified champion Usyk will reportedly be ringside this weekend when Fury defends his WBC world title against old foe Derek Chisora in what is an unlikely trilogy bout that the former is heavily tipped to emerge victorious from.
Should Fury get past Chisora at Tottenham Hotspurs’ stadium, a fight with Usyk is waiting in the wings, with a lucrative site fee from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to host the blockbuster reportedly already agreed.