Promoter Eddie Hearn has opened up about failed negotiations that would have seen WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk 19-0 (13) face WBC counterpart Tyson Fury 31-0-1 (22) in a rare four-belt unification bout.
Ukrainian southpaw Usyk, 35, was expected to go directly into a rematch with former unified champion Anthony Joshua 24-2 (22) who he defeated on points to claim the belts this past September.
But Hearn devised a plan that would see Joshua receive a step-aside fee to allow Usyk to face Fury first with a guarantee that Joshua would get the opportunity to fight the winner.
This deal would have also seen WBC number one contender Dillian Whyte 28-2 (19) receive step-aside money to allow the fight to take place.
It was an ambitious plan with a lot of moving parts but negotiations eventually fell apart. Now Hearns has revealed why.
“Everyone talks about the step aside money and all that, the goalposts kept changing,” the Matchroom Boxing boss told FightHype.
“The plan was always very simple. Fury fights Usyk for the undisputed, Joshua fights the winner. Very simple plan.
“Joshua never signed for that model, we were still talking. He never wanted to do it, but it became quite a smart plan, in my eyes.
“Then Tyson Fury said ‘I’m not fighting Usyk immediately, I would like a warm-up fight on March 26’.
“I don’t trust Tyson Fury anyway to fight AJ after Usyk. I definitely don’t trust him to go March 26, June and December.
“We went back and said no to that March fight. We tried to renegotiate that whole deal and Fury said ‘no, I don’t want to fight Usyk straight away’. Then he has to fight Whyte.
“You never know if he will fight Whyte. I would not be surprised if that fight doesn’t happen.
“I see people saying ‘Dillian Whyte has gone quiet’. He’s training. Until we see a contract for that fight and they’ve paid the money, what do you expect him to do?
“This is the opportunity Dillian has wanted for a long time. He will be there, will Tyson be there? We’ll see.”
