Oleksandr Usyk celebrated his 36th birthday recently, and may have had a subtle dig directed the way of Tyson Fury in an Instagram post.
Usyk posted a photo of himself and thanked those who had wished him well, and, in the background there hung the famous green and gold WBC belt – currently held by Fury.
Of course, the cruiserweight version of the title is proudly in the Ukrainian’s trophy cabinet after his undisputed stint in that division.
The Ukrainian holds all three of the other heavyweight straps after his two remarkable wins over Anthony Joshua, and will be full of confidence he can add Fury’s to his collection in the not too distant future.
The pair’s teams have been involved in a long negotiation process for the first undisputed heavyweight world title fight in over 20 years, when Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield all the way back in 1999.
Things were seemingly progressing well with all parties speaking positively, however it appears a few snags have been hit over the past week.
Promoter Bob Arum has stated the purse split for the fight, initially agreed at 50/50, will have to be renegotiated if a lucrative site fee offer from the Middle East is not received to host the event.
Wembley Stadium has now emerged as a real candidate, and Arum told media that he believes Fury should be entitled to the lion’s share of the revenue if the historic bout takes place on UK shores
Excitement for the prospective contest has been palpable since December, when Fury and Usyk faced off ringside in London after the former’s successful title defence against Dereck Chisora.
After having been starved of ‘1 vs 2’ heavyweight match ups for so long, fans will be praying these new issues can be resolved as quickly as possible.