Oleksandr Usyk has admitted he is "very happy" his fight with Tyson Fury collapsed as it meant has been able to return home to Ukraine.
Usyk looked set to face the 'Gypsy King' in a clash for all the marbles at heavyweight but after extensive negotiations, the fight collapsed with the Ukrainian left unhappy after the Briton's repetitive demands. Fans appeared to side with the unified champion which saw Fury take the blame with many suggesting his 70/30 purse split and no rematch clause suggestions were unreasonable.
Both men must now wait for a shot at becoming the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999, with Usyk now set to face Daniel Dubois after the fight was ordered by the WBA. And in a new admission, Usyk has suggested that he was given a chance by God to return to his children after a tough period preparing for the event.
He said in an interview with Volodymyr Kobelkov on his YouTube channel: 'I am very happy, by the way. Even though it sounds weird, I am very happy that this fight is not happening and I am going home. You’ve got to understand me, I trained for three months straight.
"Then I get to come back home and spend time with my children and I just enjoy myself. It was supposed to happen, God tells me this was supposed to happen. I see that nothing is happening, he is trying to play with us, and I told him: 'That's it, goodbye. He wants to copy Muhammad Ali, but it's a bad copy."
Fury was left extremely angry with the decision to call the fight off by both teams and lashed out at his rival on social media with a vicious video rant following news of the cancellation. Usyk and Fury looked destined to meet, but it could now leave the WBC champion in a tricky spot with no obvious opponent for his next fight.
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His dad John Fury was similarly left frustrated by the collapse of the undisputed showdown but instead suggested the promoters were to blame. Fury Sr said: "Money speaks all languages, I think there has been a bit of greed coming from promoters. Especially Usyk's lot, because to pull out over a rematch clause and I know the truth over that. Tyson just said 'okay give them what they want'. If both boys think they are going to win why not just fight?
"I just think in my own mind that he thought Tyson didn't want to fight him which is absolutely ridiculous. It is not the fighters, it is the promoters and the people who put these fights together. They make it complicated and they are thinking about what they can get out of it. They want as much money as they can make, so that is why the fights don't take place."
