According to the Ukrainian’s manager, the undisputed heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk scheduled for April 29 has been canceled.
Egis Klimas, the Ukrainian’s manager and long-time advisor, broke the news on Wednesday, March 22.
“No matter how much Usyk compromised, he was pushed for more,” Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, told boxing reporter Steve Kim, who broke the news of the breakdown of discussions.
Earlier this month, the parties agreed on a 70-30 split in favor of Fury for net revenue, but Fury and Usyk couldn’t agree on other key elements crucial to the transaction beyond the split.
According to sources, Usyk, a 35-year-old Ukrainian, has closed his training camp and will reunite with his squad to plan his next bout.
Usyk owns the WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight belts and is ranked second in the world by ESPN. WBC champion Tyson Fury is ESPN’s No. 1 heavyweight.
Three obligatory challengers await their chance to face Usyk, but England’s Daniel Dubois is first in the boxing’s unified champions’ rotation system.
The Gypsy King stated last week that the fight was certainly on and that he had gone into a social media ban while practicing for the battle.
But, Usyk’s manager and long-time advisor Klimas made a forceful take-it-or-leave-it statement to Fury’s side, stating that if the fight does not take place, Usyk will pivot to a mandatory defense of his WBA title against Daniel Dubois.
Klimas told SNAC: ‘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.’