Tyson Fury's WBC-mandated heavyweight title fight with Dillian Whyte goes to purse bids on Mexico City on Friday night.
Whyte's team have been proving difficult to negotiate with as their fighter seeks to take more than the 20% which is being offered by Fury's camp.
This has resulted in the deadline for purse bids being pushed back several times - most recently on Wednesday this week - in order for negotiations to continue regarding the current 80:20 split proposed by Fury's team.
A statement from the WBC earlier in the month said: "If there is no agreement between the parties a purse bid will be held on Tuesday January 18 at noon in Mexico City WBC headquarters." That date has subsequently been pushed back until tonight.
What is the latest?
Whyte is the mandatory challenger for Fury's WBC belt and looks set to be the Gypsy King's next opponent with Anthony Joshua now thought to be unwilling to step aside for Fury to face Oleksandr Usyk in a unification bout.
The Fury vs Whyte title fight will now go to purse bids, which means whichever promoter offers the highest amount will win the right to stage it.
Fury's promoters are Bob Arum and Frank Warren while Whyte is represented by Eddie Hearn.
Usyk will face Joshua in a rematch after the Ukrainian's shock win over the Brit last year.
What have the promoters had to say?
Speaking on Thursday, Hearn said: "Fury doesn't want to fight Usyk, in my opinion, because he had the opportunity to do it through these discussions and really, when it came down to it, he really don't want to," Eddie Hearn has claimed.
"What Fury really wants to do is have a really easy one in March, that's what he really wants to do. Now, he's going to have to fight Dillian Whyte and now, after all this kerfuffle, he'll get beat by Dillian Whyte, he'll get knocked out by Dillian Whyte.
"The reality is, when it really came down to it, he never wanted to fight Oleksandr Usyk because he could have gone straight into it but he didn't want to go straight into a fight with Usyk. But you won't ever hear that and the public won't ever hear that, you'll just hear Fury on Instagram screaming and shouting."
Hearn had previously said: "We are all still moving toward Joshua vs Usyk, in a London stadium in April, and Fury vs Whyte (as planned) but there are still people who would like to see Fury vs Usyk for the undisputed and would be willing to pay a lot of money for it.
“If there is a lot of money in the pot and there can be a plan put in place to make all the fighters happy then there is a chance it can happen, but the problem is time.
“A lot of things are needed to happen for that fight to take place. These conversations started a month ago but they are very complex."
Hearn added: "We would want Joshua and Dillian to be happy with the whole scenario - It is boxing, it is messy and there is a lot of money involved so it is getting even messier.
“We are not really nearing a deal for Whyte vs Fury, everybody knows that there are arbitrations and legal cases and appeals into various things and that explains the delay."
Bob Arum, who promotes Fury in the US, told Sky Sports last week: "If he wants the fight and stops messing around, he can get a good payday and prove that he is of a world-class calibre by taking on Fury. We'd like to do that fight. It's a good fight for the UK.
"Whyte should sit down with myself and [Fury's UK promoter] Frank Warren and work out a deal for a guarantee, and we'll get this show on the road. Come to the table and let's see if we can carve out a real deal. Let's quit screwing around."
Arum also told TalkSPORT : "It is total chaos. What’s happening is just promises coming out of the Middle East about doing a unified fight with Usyk and Fury, and is Dillian Whyte gonna step aside.
"And people that have absolutely no contractual ties – like Frank Warren’s Queensberry and our Top Rank do – are getting involved. It’s a typical terrible kind of situation, but hopefully it’ll get sorted out and probably it will get sorted out with a purse bid on Friday."
