Oleksandr Usyk has spoken about the collapse of his fight against Tyson Fury and why he finally decided to pull the plug.
Usyk looked all set to face Fury in a fight to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion in over twenty years and the first since the four belt era.
After the purse split was agreed it seemed the fight was on, but a disagreement over rematch financials caused Usyk’s team to stop negotiations.
Usyk’s side admit they were the ones to eventually pull out of all talks, and the Ukrainian has now explained why.
“He had many conditions which seemed like a game, 70/30, then rematch and he wanted to take all the money in the rematch as well.
I said to my team, ‘let’s respect ourselves, this is just a game, it can not keep going on and on and on’.
My opinion is that he truly didn’t that fight, he thinks I say no [to the split]. It was his condition to have a rematch, it was not mine. So I told him, if I win the first fight the rematch will be 70/30 in my favour. It was just a game it turns out, he really didn’t want it.”
Fans are still hoping the fight can be arranged for the backend of the year, which would require both men to keep hold of their belts in the meantime.
Usyk has made it clear he will be fulfilling his mandatory obligations, with Daniel Dubois first in line, and the WBA have officially ordered the bout with a deadline of May 2 to agree a deal.
Fury on the other hand has gone quiet since the fall out, with rumoured options ranging from Anthony Joshua to retirement.