Usyk-Fury bout in reverse gear again
The proposed four-belt clash would see Usyk put his IBF, WBO and WBA titles on the line against Fury’s WBC
World boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk’s team believe that their fighter is not being treated worthy of a unified heavyweight champion in ongoing negotiations to fight Tyson Fury – and it may just be the final nail in the coffin.
The proposed four-belt clash would see Usyk put his IBF, WBO and WBA titles on the line against Fury’s WBC to crown a sole champion in the division for the first time since Lennox Lewis.
Talks have been swinging from positive to negative in recent weeks, and were only just kept afloat when Usyk accepted 30% of the purse as per Fury’s demand.
Following that hurdle, both Fury and his UK promoter, Frank Warren, were confident the fight would happen on April 29 at Wembley Stadium, and Fury started training.
Egis Klimas, Usyk’s manager, informed SNAC Nutrition on Thursday March 16 that there had indeed been movement behind the scenes, primarily due to an increased involvement by Fury’s US representatives, Top Rank.
“It’s changed, Top Rank got more involved in it, but not too much. They’re still treating Oleksandr Usyk like they did with Derek Chisora, or Dillian Whyte. They act like it’s just a regular Fury fight in the UK, and everything has to be by Fury’s rules.”
The manager said his next step was employing British counsel to assist in negotiations, before stating that the fight was categorically not on if the April date couldn’t be confirmed.
“We’re going to wait because right now we’re in the process of hiring British counsel because they are going by the British rules. We are the outsider, but we can’t just play by everything they throw to us. Enough is enough.”
“If this fight is going to happen, only April 29th. Or it’s just going to be cancelled, and we’ll go with the mandatory.”
