Home Boxing News Tyson Fury was not even in camp for proposed Oleksandr Usyk bout

Tyson Fury was not even in camp for proposed Oleksandr Usyk bout

Tyson Fury
Andy Lee, Tyson Fury and Sugarhill Steward.

If WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury 33-0-1 (24) was to face WBC, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk 20-0 (13) on April 29, he would have been doing it on no more than a five week training camp.

Negotiations between the two camps broke down this week despite Usyk accepting a 70/30 purse split in Fury’s favour.

Chances of the fight taking place on the nominated date always seemed slim.

Fury’s trainer SugarHill Steward has admitted as much, saying his priority has been getting WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie 18-0 (14) in peak condition for his mandatory title defence against David Light 20-0 (12) at the AO Arena in Manchester, England on Saturday night.

“Everybody forgot that I’m training Lawrence Okolie and his fight is in Manchester,” said Steward to iFL TV.

“My flight ticket leaves March 28th.

“I want [Fury] to fight the best and he wants to fight the best. Hey, it happens when it happens. We have no control over it. All we can do is sit and control things we have control over and wait and see what happens.

“I don’t really care because I’m here, focused on Lawrence Okolie. That’s what I came here [to the UK] for. I’m happy everyone is asking me at this time because I’m here for Lawrence. I’ve been in training camp with Lawrence the whole time.

“It just so happens that there have been negotiations and talks about the Usyk vs. Usyk fight. Then we come to Manchester, and we’re going to go use Tyson’s gym to train, which obviously that’s where I’m going to go because that’s like home for me, and I’m comfortable there.

“Then we come down here for fight week and to continue training and preparing for this fight. I’m like the perfect storm. ‘Oh, Sugar is here now. It’s time; it’s happening.’ I’m like, ‘Tyson knows what I’m here for.’ I’m here for Lawrence. Tyson was in the gym with us, but I didn’t train Tyson.

“We didn’t do pads. We didn’t do anything like with Usyk. I’m training Lawrence.”

Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk was blunt in his assessment of how the talks broke done, pointing the finger squarely at the Fury camp for failing to negotiate in good faith.

“The fight is called off. The reason for that is it went too far. There was a feeling that after Usyk accepted 70-30 [purse split], Tyson Fury started thinking that he could put a saddle around his neck and start riding Usyk as much as he can,” Krassyuk said to talkSPORT.

“It’s not right. I mean, Usyk accepted the 70-30 split as a courtesy. He was so loyal and he was so willing to make this fight happen. But the fight isn’t about Tyson Fury, the fight is about the WBC belt that is pending in his collection.

“If I start telling you the list of things [Fury] wanted, one, five, ten, or 15 minutes will not be enough. There was a list of things he wanted to get in his favour that was absolutely unacceptable, which were completely disrespectful to the unified champion and former undisputed [cruiserweight] champion.

“I cannot disclose the negotiations, it’s part of the ethics. So, if I start to go into the details, it won’t look good. Maybe, if the other party would be willing to take the decision to disclose what were the things then we can talk about it. At this time, I cannot do this just for this reason… With huge regret in my heart, I must admit [the fight is off]… [Usyk] will take a short break and comply with his mandatories.”

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