Lennox Lewis has given his opinion on the collapse of the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight.
Fury looked set to take on Usyk in a fight to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lewis himself back in 1999.
To the surprise of most in boxing, the Ukrainian accepted a 70-30 purse split for the fight to take place at Wembley Stadium on April 29th. With that concession it seemed the fight was on, but disagreements over rematch financials saw the negotiations stop.
Both sides have taken plenty of stick for the failure to make a deal, although Usyk’s team later admitted they were the ones to pull the plug, feeling they weren’t getting a fair deal.
Lewis originally said he couldn’t understand why current boxers weren’t hungry to make history.
I don’t understand how this crop isn’t hungry to make history. The money will ALWAYS be there and if they protect it, will be more than they could ever need… I think they’re building up to a big fight in Dec… but if they play the cards wrong, it could come all crashing down.
‘The Lion’ has now gone one step further, saying nothing can stop a fight getting made if both men want it.
“If two fighters want to fight, they will make a way.”
What is said was i fought for glory and the money came. If two fighters want to fight, they will make a way.
— Lennox Lewis, CBE, CM (@LennoxLewis) April 5, 2023
Whether the two will look to restart negotiations, with talk of trying to stage the fight in Saudi Arabia at the end of the year, remains to be seen.
Attention now turns to who they’ll face next. Usyk has made it clear he’ll start fulfilling his mandatory obligations with WBA ordering Daniel Dubois negotiations, with a deadline of May 2 to make a deal.
Fury has gone quiet since the collapse but isn’t short of options, with Joe Joyce, Andy Ruiz Jr and of course Anthony Joshua all possibilities.