EXCLUSIVE
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk NOT DEAD YET as promoters Frank Warren and Alex Krassyuk exchange words live on talkSPORT
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk could yet be salvaged after a live exchange between their representatives on talkSPORT on Wednesday.
Fury's UK co-promoter Frank Warren and Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk both joined White and Jordan just before midday to explain the latest with the undisputed heavyweight world title fight, which had been targeted for April 29 at Wembley Stadium.
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Usyk’s manager Egis Klimas and promoter Krassyuk have both made comments over the past 24 hours insisting the deal is off.
They blame Fury’s ‘list of demands’ for this collapse, though it wasn't until Warren came onto talkSPORT that fans heard of the main issue - a dispute over the purse split for the rematch clause.
Usyk previously accepted Fury’s offer of a 70/30 split in his favour for the April 29 fight, but has denied his call to scrap the proposed rematch clause.
Warren said the Gypsy King has now agreed to keep a rematch clause in the contract, though the two camps were yet to reach an accord on the financial split for the second fight when Klimas and Krassyuk suddenly announced that they were ceasing negotiations.
When he initially joined talkSPORT, Warren was asked to confirm that the fight is off and replied: "No, I'm not confirming it's off.
"All I've had from him [Klimas] officially was an email that said, 'Gentlemen, hope you're okay, I'm not going into details, start to blame or point the finger to anyone, but we'd like to officially announce that Team Usyk is out of further negotiations regarding the April 29 fight.'
"We got that yesterday, that's the first we heard of it."
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Explaining the issue obstructing the fight from being a done deal, Warren continued: "We got it all out the way except for one issue and that was the rematch.
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"Tyson publicly stated that we should scrap the rematch, this was to simplify the deal.
"Rematch clauses can be very difficult and Tyson's been there before when a rematch blocked a fight with him and Anthony Joshua [in 2021] when Deontay Wilder took him to court. That kyboshed that fight with Joshua.
"Anyway, I convinced Tyson to take the rematch [with Usyk] and he did. So I told them on Sunday we're gonna go with the rematch.
"Then we got into a situation with how the rematch money is gonna be split and that's what we've been working on...
"Why can't it be overcome if he wants the fight? We want the fight, why can't it be overcome?... There's no reason for this fight to be off."
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Warren added: "You know why they want the rematch clause? Because it's two paydays.
"Where are they gonna earn the type of money they can earn fighting Tyson twice?
"They aren't gonna get that type of money to fight Filip Hrgovic, Joe Joyce or Daniel Dubois [Usyk's three mandatory challengers].
"But Tyson brings a lot of money to the table, that's why they want it...
"We are willing to take the same deal as what they did for their rematch with Anthony Joshua.
"I know what that deal is so we'll go with that, no problem with that."
Eddie Hearn previously confirmed that the Usyk vs Joshua rematch was an even 50/50 purse split after the Ukrainian won the first fight.
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Krassyuk then joined Warren live on air and the pair continued their respectful discourse before ultimately agreeing to get back on the phone and attempt to salvage the fight.
Usyk's promoter said: "It's not me, it's Usyk who cannot stand it anymore, who does not want to compromise anymore.
"He compromised for 70/30 because he wanted this fight to happen, but it was not about Tyson Fury, it's about the WBC belt...
"I want to thank Frank and Queensberry for making everything possible, everything that was in their power, the same that we did in our power. This is not their fault. He did everything possible to make it happen."
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Warren replied: "We're not gonna be negotiating over the radio, that's for sure.
"But Alex and I are friends. I still believe this fight can be made and I believe with the will of everybody concerned we can get it over the line and that's what I'm trying to do."
Krassyuk insisted: "From our perspective now this fight is not going to happen on April 29. Maybe some miracle can happen, but I'm really sincere, I'm not trying to play games. Usyk's camp pulled the plug out."
Warren concluded: "As soon as we finish with you guys, we're gonna get back on the phone together Alex and I.
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"We're gonna have a chat and if we can do this we're gonna come back to you and tell you we've done a deal.
"We've probably got about a day, maybe two days, then we're done."
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