Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk had the chance to make history in the ring next month on April 29. The pair were due to go toe-to-toe for a chance to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. It’s been 21 years since the last undisputed heavyweight champion, perpetuating how big this fight was going to be.
However, the fight fell apart with the pair unable to agree on a purse split for a rematch, with Usyk and his team set on an even split. It certainly seemed reasonable with the opening bout agreed at 70/30 in Fury’s favour, with a home crowd as well.
Unfortunately, The Gypsy King wasn’t budging and the fight fell apart. Fury’s constant moving goalposts along with the explicit rants on social media haven’t gone down well with fans at all. So much so, Frank Warren is still taking to the media to defend his name, as Fury’s support levels have well and truly plummeted.
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk is off
It’s the news we were all dreading but almost expecting, Fury is no stranger to big fights collapsing due to his stubborn stance in negotiating, although this time people are accusing him of going one further. Plenty of people feel he has genuinely ducked the Ukrainian, having no intention to fight him.
Usyk’s team started out at a stubborn 50/50 split, not even taking 60/40, so when Fury offered 70/30, many thought he was bluffing. The Ukrainian accepted 70/30 and called his bluff, so with the goalposts changing again after that, plenty feel it was The Gypsy King’s intention to always pull out of the fight.
After all, little over a month isn’t a long time to prepare for the biggest fight of your career! On top of that, Fury has constantly said in the past how tough he finds it against considerably smaller opponents who have made the step up to the heavyweight division.
Video: ESPN pundit Tim Bradley accuses Tyson Fury of ducking Oleksandr Usyk
The feelings are that strong, ESPN pundit Tim Bradley didn’t hold back when assessing the breakdown in talks. When asked who was to blame, he claimed: “Fury, Fury is the one to blame. I mean, you never know what Fury’s thinking, every day is different. Honestly, I’m sick of the mess.
“We wanna see an undisputed heavyweight championship fight, that’s what we wanna see Tyson Fury, and did he get that house already in August? Did he get it already? Because I will call a legitimate duck by Tyson Fury. He’s ducking Usyk.
“He didn’t even think that Usyk was going to take the 70/30 split Usyk was adamant to take a 50/50 split, he wanted 50/50, didn’t even take 60/40 and then you have Fury come in and say 70/30. Usyk and his team said ‘we’ll do it’, and then the goalposts got moved again and it continues to get moved.”
