Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s fight for all four heavyweight belts looks to be in doubt as the camps fail to come to an agreement.
With Saudi Arabia reportedly off the table as host nation, a date of April 29 has been pencilled in at Wembley Stadium. This development brings with it a fresh set of negotiations, and, by most accounts, they’re not going well.
Fury’s father, John, told Behind The Gloves that his son was the A side and should be treated that way, otherwise the fight wouldn’t happen.
“It’s nothing to do with money, it’s principle. Tyson’s the A side. Tyson’s the draw. Usyk, without Tyson, couldn’t sell the O2 [Arena] out. Tyson, when he was starting out, when he was challenging Wladimir Klitschko, he didn’t get paid well at all – so now he deserves to be the A side.
Treat him right. Treat him as the great champion he is. And if it’s about money, I’m the best dealerman in the world. I’ll get a deal done myself. If they can’t do it, let John Fury do it.”
Although he highlights that the delay not financially-motivated, it’s hard to imagine what other A side privileges would really stand in the way at this stage other than the purse split.
John Fury went on to deliver the harshest blow yet to fans hopeful of the fight, branding it ‘another AJ-Fury’ in reference to the doomed negotiations between his son and domestic rival, Anthony Joshua.
“I don’t know. No comment on it, because, at the end of the day, we’re a long way away. It’s probably another AJ-Tyson isn’t it? Fights that never happen because people don’t treat people like they should be [treated.]
With negative updates coming from Team Usyk, too, the undisputed heavyweight championship fight that was once promised to be easily made is officially on a shaky peg.