The last undisputed heavyweight champion, Lennox Lewis, has weighed in on Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s failed attempts to take that crown.
Fury, the current WBC champion, had his offer of a 70/30 purse split in his favour accepted by Usyk – who holds the IBF, WBA and WBO belts. Despite that breakthrough, talks instead broke down.
Rematch financials were reportedly the final straw, but Usyk’s side point to a larger list of demands they felt were unfair and unacceptable.
Whatever the reason, the fight is off and fans are forced to go begging for a sole champion in the sport’s premier division.
Lewis, who himself won all of the major heavyweight belts against Evander Holyfield in 1999, doesn’t understand the lack of motivation from the current scene.
“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 December, but if they play the cards wrong, it could come all crashing down.”
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. https://t.co/rULhLsRmFo
— Lennox Lewis, CBE, CM (@LennoxLewis) March 31, 2023
The heavyweight great’s opinion of a winter fight is held by others, too, with Saudi Arabia seemingly available to stage the fight then and that likely solving the riddles around financial reward.
With that being said, the question now becomes can both fighters stay active and keep their belts? As Lewis points out, it’s a dangerous game with the likes of Joe Joyce knocking at the door.
Usyk is expected to start his rotation of mandatories, beginning with the WBA’s Daniel Dubois. As for Fury, he’s without a dance partner and hasn’t hinted as to who he might like in the opposite corner.
The WBC have tried and failed to name a mandatory challenger between Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz Jr since November of last year, and its president has stated ‘The Gypsy King’ has no current obligations.