Former WBC Cruiserweight champion, Tony Bellew, has revealed the two reasons that he believes could have caused the collapse of a proposed undisputed heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury and Usyk struggled to settle on terms despite the Ukrainian seeming to agree to each one of ‘The Gypsy King’s’ demands including a 70/30 split out of his favour.
In an interview with iFL TV, Bellew slammed Fury’s team and claimed that they are tainting his career by getting in the way of nights that will cement his legacy. He believes either they didn’t want the fight, or an inflated sense of worth is to blame.
“I mean when the lad [Usyk] has took 30% of the purse, you just thought it was done didn’t you. How has it not been done? The guy took the lowest end of the stick, it just doesn’t make sense, you [Usyk] bring three belts to the party and he [Fury] brings one and you take 30% of the revenue, he takes 70%.
I just don’t know how it hasn’t been done and I know what their [Usyk’s] team is like to deal with. I’ve dealt with them, I’m speaking from experience, they are the easier team to deal with, ever, they just want to fight.”
“I like Tyson Fury, as a fella, he is sound. But, whoever is doing your negotiations has either got a massively inflated opinion of you and what you are worth, or you’ve just lost your mind and you don’t want the fight, it’s one of them two things. He is such a brilliant fighter, being tainted by poor decisions in the background.”
The Usyk debacle has undoubtedly disrupted Fury’s plans for 2023, as he now struggles to find a new opponent for this summer.
He has recently been linked to fights with both Demsey McKean and Jai Opetaia whilst he was in Australia, but rumours have quietened down since he left the country.