Oleksandr Usyk will be ordered to face Daniel Dubois after a deadline passed for the Ukrainian to agree a deal with Tyson Fury.
Heavyweight champions Fury and Usyk were in talks to meet at Wembley on April 29 but constant delays to their negotiations put the fight in jeopardy. Fury's promoter Frank Warren had insisted the undisputed clash had to be agreed on by Friday night but with no agreement in place, the highly-anticipated fight is now seemingly dead in the water.
And the WBA confirmed they will force Usyk to open talks with mandatory challenger Dubois. In a tweet, the organisation said: "The Championships Committee had ordered Usyk-Dubois but this was vacated to give priority to Usyk-Fury. The deadline expired last Friday and an extension was granted until today at 5 p.m. Therefore, at the end of this period, the combat between Usyk and Dubois will be ordered."
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Earlier on Friday, Usyk told Fury he will accept his terms for the undisputed heavyweight title fight at Wembley provided the Briton agrees to one special condition. Fury, who had been accused of demanding too much money, had insisted on a 70 per cent of the total purse for the revised London date.
But Usyk posted a brief message on his social media on Friday in which he said he would accept Fury’s terms provided he makes a £1million donation to those affected by the war in Ukraine. Usyk said: “Hey, greedy belly. I accept your offer – 70-30 split the fight with you on April 29 at Wembley. But you will promise to donate to Ukraine immediately after the fight, £1million. And for every day of your delay you will pay one per cent from your purse to Ukrainian people. Deal?”
Earlier, Fury had posted a video of his own laying out his terms for the contest and insisting Usyk’s percentage would fall by one per cent for every day the Ukrainian delayed. Fury last fought in December when he stopped domestic rival Derek Chisora, while Usyk has not stepped in the ring since he successfully defended his titles with a second straight win over Anthony Joshua in Jeddah in August.
After being unwilling to accept 50 per cent of the purse, Fury demanded a 70/30 split in video message to Usyk in which he said: "I see all this talk of boxing fights, they want 50 per cent 'Tyson is being greedy...' but from where I'm standing, Usyk, you and your team are worth 30 per cent. If you don't want it, go and fight Daniel Dubois at the Copper Box and get a few million dollars."
