Oleksandr Usyk's promoter has revealed a contract demand that Tyson Fury wasn't happy with which led to the cancellation of their undisputed clash.
The 'Gypsy King' looked set to face Usyk in a historic clash for the undisputed heavyweight world titles with months of negotiations finally edging to a conclusion, but the fight has now been cancelled after the parties failed to reach an agreement. Fury and Usyk argued over several terms as the Brit demanded a 70/30 purse split, which Usyk accepted, before also suggesting neither fighter is granted a rematch clause.
Krassyuk has now revealed that Fury wasn't a fan of Usyk's proposed £1million donation from his purse to the people of Ukraine. The promoter refused to go into the finer details of why the fight collapsed but admitted the purse demand was one of many reasons why they pulled the plug.
"We did everything possible," Krassyuk told Seconds Out. "It wouldn't be right to do into the details because of business ethics, that's only possible if Frank agreed and we do it publicly. There is actually no one to blame because Frank did as much as he could and is still trying. We did have a very productive conversation on Sunday, we went through most of the issues and had to compromise.
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"Some of the [issues] are not that important and some of them are, but we acted in good faith so it goes in the proper direction. At some point when I was talking to Usyk, he asked me 'How many more times I have to bow my head? I am the unified heavyweight champion and undisputed cruiserweight champion'.
"'I did act in the courtesy of boxing when I accepted 70/30 but I accepted it with a condition that Tyson had to donate £1million to the people of Ukraine immediately after the fight'. Tyson seemed to only hear the first part of this message and didn't like, want or hear the second. There were a bunch of issues that collectively put the criticalness which finally exploded and we had to pull the plug."
Krassyuk insisted they will still try to make an undisputed clash for as long as Usyk holds the heavyweight belts, regardless if Fury is still the WBC titleholder or not. Usyk already has a new opponent lined up amid the cancellation as he is set to face mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois.
"From our perspective, the undisputed heavyweight championship fight remains our highest priority," he added. "We will comply with our obligations with the mandatories and then work hard to make it happen. Whoever is the temporary holder of the WBC belt that is pending in Usyk's collection is not an issue. The issue is the belt and the unfortunate thing is at this moment, Tyson Fury holds it."
