Oleksandr Usyk’s team have made it clear that the 70/30 split in favour of Tyson Fury will only apply to an April 29 date.
The condition puts yet more pressure on the timeline that those behind the scenes have promised to deliver to fans despite increasingly hostile public demands between fighters.
Following Usyk’s verbal agreement to the purse split, Fury demanded that a rematch clause for both fighters be removed from the contract.
The Ukrainian and his team saw this as another unnecessary hurdle placed in the way by the Brit, and claimed that he was playing ‘stupid games’ and did not want to fight, pointing to a lack of a proper training camp as back up evidence.
With Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, still aiming for April 29 at Wembley Stadium, there is less than seven weeks until fight night.
Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, has now informed boxing insider Steve Kim that the current split will only be in play for that date – with a fight in the future set strictly at 50/50. The condition was then shared by Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk.
From Egis Klimas (manager of O.Usyk),"BTW, we're going to enclose in the contract, the 70-30 (split) is for April 29th. If that fight (Fury-Usyk) moves to a different dte, it's not going to be a 70-30 deal. It's going to be 50-50." #boxing
— Steve Kim (@SteveKim323) March 13, 2023
Considering the purse split in Fury’s favour was a big sticking point recently, it’s unlikely his side will be willing to move back to 50/50 for the four-belt clash.
It also represents a ‘back to square one’ move that can’t bode well for future talks should April 29 be undeliverable. Krassyuk has said that he expects a draft contract today, so more on this is certain to come.
Should the fight be made, the winner will be crowned the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis, and the first ever in the era of the four major sanctioning bodies.