Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are pencilled in to fight in less than six weeks for arguably the most prestigious prize in the sport of boxing – but Eddie Hearn feels there may not be enough time for a proper training camp.
The negotiations between the two heavyweight champions have turned public recently, with the 70/30 purse split in Fury’s favour agreed via social media and then more back and forth about the potential of a rematch clause.
Despite nothing official and no contract signed, Fury’s side have been adamant that the fight goes ahead on April 29 at Wembley Stadium.
Rival promoter, Hearn, told Boxing Social that the timeline isn’t unrealistic because of the business of the event, but rather the fighter preparation.
“I don’t think you need the time to promote it – It’s a big enough fight – but time to get ready.
Tyson Fury physically doesn’t look ready for six weeks. But he never has done really, and he’s proved everybody wrong before. So maybe he takes the fight.
I think when you see a tweet like you saw tonight [Usyk’s deadline] it’s not a good sign, but anything’s possible. I hope it gets made.”
Fury has announced his Morecambe training camp has started, and he’s been seen in the gym with trainer SugarHill Steward.
All of that may be futile, though, when analysing the latest updates from Usyk’s team. The Ukrainian’s manager gave a particularly downbeat interview after the latest round of talks in which he claimed his fighter wasn’t being given his worth.
Whilst he said that talks were still ongoing, he also sent an apology to fans for the fact that there was a real chance the four-belt clash falls away.