Former two-weight world champion, Timothy Bradley, has made his feelings clear on the collapse of the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight.
Fury looked all set to face Usyk on April 29 at Wembley Stadium in a clash to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
The WBC champ gave the Ukrainian a 30% ‘take it or leave it’ offer. When Usyk accepted, it finally looked like the fight was on. However, as so often happens in boxing, talks collapsed and both teams officially announced that negotiations were over.
Bradley, who now works as a pundit for ESPN, was clear on where the thought the blame lay.
While on commentary duties, the former super lightweight and welterweight champion said:
“Fury is the one to blame.
I’m sick of the mess. I call this a legitimate duck by Fury, he’s ducking Usyk.
He didn’t think Usyk was gonna take 70/30. The goalposts got moved again, they kept getting moved.”
With the fight now dead in the water, speculation moves on to who Fury and Usyk might face next.
‘The Gypsy King’ has been linked to a fight against fellow Brit, Joe Joyce, and also former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. Many still feel the biggest fight for Fury is a clash against Anthony Joshua, a bout that Eddie Hearn says everyone involved should be ‘kicking and screaming’ to make.
Usyk on the other hand has suggested he will fulfil his mandatory obligations, meaning a fight against WBA regular title holder, Daniel Dubois, could be next, although speculation of a big money fight against Deontay Wilder has started to gain momentum.
As new plans are made, the idea of seeing an undisputed champion in this division in this era starts to fade.