Former cruiserweight world champion, Johnny Nelson, has made his feelings clear regarding the collapse of the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight.
After Usyk accepted a ‘take it or leave it’ offer of just 30% from Fury to fight at Wembley on April 29, it looked like the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis was to be crowned. Those hopes were crushed when both teams confirmed last week that negotiations had officially failed and the fight wasn’t to go ahead.
The final straw for Usyk was the financial split for the rematch, with the Ukrainian wanting the 70/30 reversed if he were to win the first fight. It’s reported that Fury’s side offered 50/50 but they argue they were given no chance to compromise.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Nelson thinks in the end it came down to greed.
“On a personal opinion I think it’s down to greed why this fight hasn’t happened. Tyson Fury got almost everything he wanted and he just pushed it too far and priced himself out of the fight.
I personally think Tyson Fury beats Oleksandr Usyk, but by the sounds of how the negotiation went, it sounds like Tyson Fury didn’t believe he could beat him because he priced himself out of unifying the heavyweight world title.
You can’t tell me it’s about legacy and it’s not about money, when money is the reason this fight fell to pieces.”
The TV pundit made it crystal clear where he thinks the blame lies for the collapse.
“Usyk said ‘yes you can have that, yes you can have that, no, now you’ve gone too far.
I lay the blame firmly on Tyson Fury no matter what.”
Attention now turns to who both men might face next. Usyk has made it clear he wants to become undisputed, meaning he’ll have to face his mandatories, and negotiations for a fight against Daniel Dubois have already started.