Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Knockout blow for Fury vs Usyk at Wembley
TYSON Fury’s proposed undisputed heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley has fallen through.
Talks between the two camps have taken place in recent months and an official announcement for an April 29 showdown had appeared close.
However, the unification bout in London is now definitely off, the PA news agency understands.
WBC champion Fury called out Usyk, who holds the WBA, IBF and WBO belts, following his victory over Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum revealed weeks later an agreement had been reached for a unification bout to take place.
Negotiations rumbled on, with plenty of backand-forth between the two heavyweights on social media, but on March 10 Ukrainian boxer Usyk accepted a 70-30 purse split, provided Fury donated £1 million to Ukraine to help their efforts in the war against Russia.
The WBA also revealed it had received confirmation that an agreement for the blockbuster fight was in place, but it has now fallen through.
No final agreement over terms could be reached between the two camps for an April 29 bout, PA understands.
Usyk, who beat Anthony Joshua in August, will now turn his attention to a mandatory defence of one of his belts later this summer.
Meanwhile, Joshua is primed to return to the ring on April 1 but has insisted he will have no regrets about his career if an all-British bout with Fury cannot be made further down the line.
Joshua will take on American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin (21-1, 14KOs) at O2 Arena next month eager to get back on track following back-toback defeats to Usyk.
“I can’t say I will sit and wait around for this geezer,” Joshua said of Fury.