Oleksandr Usyk's team have suggested Tyson Fury made a lengthy list of demands which derailed their undisputed fight.
The 'Gypsy King' was set to challenge Usyk with both fighters eyeing the chance to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999. The fight was pencilled in to take place on April 29 at Wembley Stadium, but negotiations rumbled on for several months before coming to a halt this week.
Fury first demanded he be handed a 70 per cent split of the fight purse which Usyk accepted, before he then made a public plea to remove a rematch clause for both sides. Despite a breakthrough being teased over the weekend, it appears the fight is now off with the Ukrainian's team suggesting they have pulled the plug.
And Usyk's manager Alex Krassyuk has revealed that negotiations took a sharp U-turn with Usyk left unhappy by unreasonable demands made having already agreed to a lower split. Krassyuk told talkSPORT: “If I start telling you the list of things he 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. Maybe, if the other party would be willing to take the decision to disclose what were the things then we can talk about it. The reason for that is it went too far.
"There was a feeling that after Usyk accepted 70-30, Tyson Fury started thinking that he could put a saddle around his neck and start riding Usyk as much as he can. 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.”
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Fury's demands were sometimes made in public, but Usyk was largely open to completing the showdown with both men insistent that there were no other options. Negotiations are currently at a standstill with a deadline of April 1 in place for Usyk to instead be ordered to face Daniel Dubois.
However the Briton's promoter Frank Warren suggested he is open to getting back to the table and ironing out a deal, instead heaping blame on the rematch clause hurdle. He said on talkSPORT: "I convinced Tyson to take the rematch. Then we got into how the money will be split in the rematch. The rematch has become a sideshow. Why can't this be overcome if Usyk wants the fight?
"All the splits were agreed. Who walks in first was agreed. If it's a great fight then we will make the rematch. On Sunday we had a conference call with all the parties on board. Egis, Alex Krassyuk were discussing the outstanding issues, pretty petty stuff. We got it all out of the way except the rematch."
