Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has been branded "stupid" after he claimed that Tyson Fury bottled an undisputed clash against Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury was in talks to face Usyk for all the belts in the heavyweight division which involved offering a step-aside deal to Anthony Joshua who is set to rematch the Ukrainian.
Hearn, who promotes Joshua, blamed Fury for the collapse of talks claiming that the 'Gypsy King' wanted an interim fight before facing Usyk.
Fury's co-promoter Frank Warren has claimed it isn't even worth responding to and is just delighted to have secured the fight between Fury and Whyte with a purse bid win.
"Listen it is beyond stupid," Warren told iFL TV. "I'm not even going to respond to that it is beyond stupid.
"I've said before many times whilst all this is going on he can't stop with the verbal. He doesn't stop it is continuous. We had all this before with Joshua and Tyson with the contract to be sent next week etc.
"That is his style and it is what it is. The reality is we put in a $41 million dollar bid in to secure the fight to secure his man if he is still is his man, I don't think he is because we were talking to his lawyer and Ben Shalom.
"It will give Dillian Whyte a massive purse and deliver $2 million more than it would have done if Matchroom had won the purse bids. That is reality rather than the stuff that he comes out with."
Fury will now face Whyte after purse bids were won by Warren with a huge £31 million offer that trumped Matchroom's bid of £25 million.
He was ordered to face Whyte last year in a mandatory defence with negotiations having stalled over the declared purses of 80:20 in the champion's favour.
Joshua is now likely to face Usyk in a redemption bid as planned after activating the rematch clause in the aftermath of his crushing defeat to his rival in September.
Would you have preferred to see Tyson Fury face Oleksandr Usyk or Dillian Whyte? Let us know in the comments section below
Hearn has admitted he is now happy to proceed with a fight between Fury and Whyte, but has claimed that Fury was the one who "lost" the money.
"Anthony Joshua stepped up to fight Oleksandr Usyk," Hearn told iFL TV. "Not, 'Hang on, I'll just do a few posts on Instagram pretending I wanna fight him.'
"I spoke to Alex Krassyuk [Usyk's promoter] last night - they feel that Tyson Fury has bottled the fight vs Usyk."
Fury will now return to the UK for the fight with Whyte as the Principality Stadium in Cardiff remains a targeted venue for the event in April.
Hearn will now proceed to finalise a deal for Joshua to face Usyk in a rematch with terms virtually "agreed" for the clash pending a venue and date.
