Is Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury happening? The Ukrainian's manager gives latest update
As of now, Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury hangs in the balance.
'The Cat' and 'The Gypsy King' are currently in talks for an April 29th showdown. However, the pair have been in talks for a long time since Usyk's win over Anthony Joshua last August. The pair targeted a December clash, but due to an injury to the Ukrainian, the fight went to Derek Chisora.
The WBC Heavyweight Champion wound up knocking out 'Del Boy' last December and had a staredown with his fellow titleholder in the ring. Following the event, both Usyk and Fury confirmed that they were getting close to finalizing the matchup.
Three months on from that, the fight has still not been confirmed. Currently, there are multiple issues holding the contest back. Namely, the revenue split, rematch clause, and date for the bout. While Usyk felt that the revenue should be split down the middle, Fury disagreed.
Tyson Fury has stated that he will only fight if he can have a 70/30 split in his favor, and there's no rematch clause. To his credit, Oleksandr Usyk agreed to those demands but is unwilling to move the targeted April 29 date.
In a recent interview with Steve Kim, Usyk's manager, Egis Klimas, gave an update on the situation. He stated:
"We're tired, and we have obligations with other mandatory fighters, we don't want to hold them... We have to fight on April 29th as we agreed, as we were talking about for three months. We're going to enclose in the contract, the 70-30 is for April 29th. If that fight is going to move to a different date, it's not going to be a 70-30 deal, it's going to be 50-50."
See his comments below:
"So as it stands, Fury-Usyk may or may not happen next." From the latest #K9sCorner for SNAC.com. Some quotes from Egis Klimas, the manager of Oleksandr Usyk... #boxing @SNACsystem #SNACAttack
snac.com/blogs/k-9-kims…
Oleksandr Usyk sends message to Tyson Fury
Oleksandr Usyk has stated that the ball is in Tyson Fury's court.
To this point, 'The Cat' has agreed to the majority of 'The Gypsy King's' recent demands. Even going as far as taking a 70/30 split for their historic heavyweight championship unification matchup.
For that reason, it seems that the Ukrainian and his team are frustrated. Usyk's team recently revealed that they had a deadline for this weekend to make the fight official.
While he's not as big on trash-talking as Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk did take to Twitter earlier today to send a message. The heavyweight champion stated that he and his team did everything possible to make the matchup happen.
According to Usyk, if the fight doesn't happen, it's on 'The Gypsy King'.
See his post below:
The points for agreement were sent to Fury’s side. The deadline is set. The clock is ticking. The ball is on #Greedybelly’s side now. We did everything in our power to make it happen @Tyson_Fury