The undisputed heavyweight fight between Briton Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is “unlikely to happen next,” according to the Ukrainian’s promoter.
London’s Wembley Stadium was booked for 29 April but Alex Krassyuk says Fury has priced himself out of the bout.
Krassyuk says a 60/40 split to the winner was rejected by Fury and Usyk could instead face Daniel Dubois next.
“I don’t think Fury and Usyk will fight in April – or even next as Usyk has his mandatory obligations,” he said.
Fury, 34, is the WBC champion and the 36-year-old Usyk holds the WBO, WBA and IBF belts.
The WBA said the deadline to agree the unification fight was 22:00 GMT Friday.
“After this deadline, the mandatory fight between Usyk and Daniel Dubois will be ordered to be negotiated. #Heavyweight,” the organisation tweeted.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Krassyuk added: “Unless Queensberry [Fury’s promoters] somehow win a jackpot lottery and have enough money to pay Tyson’s demands, it is very unlikely to happen.”
Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren, who represents Fury, said a decision on the fight “will be decided by this weekend”.
On Friday, Fury posted on his social media channels offering a 70/30 split.
“From every day from today that you linger or mess around, I’ll deduct one percent from the 30 per cent,” he added on Instagram.
Usyk – a former undisputed cruiserweight champion – has won all 20 professional bouts, while Fury has 33 victories and one draw on his record.
‘Usyk won’t give up on road to greatness’
A potential Fury-Usyk contest to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era was close to being finalised.
Saudi Arabia was understood to be the frontrunner as host, but the new Jeddah Stadium could not be completed in the timeframe required by both champions.
Wembley Stadium was then provisionally booked and Krassyuk joined Warren on 15 February at Arsenal’s home Premier League game against Manchester City to continue negotiations.
“Everyone was on board,” said Krassyuk. “The only thing that was pending was Tyson Fury’s consent, which is still pending.”
Krassyuk added a 50/50 split was initially agreed, but then Fury increased his demands and later rejected an offer which would see the winner take a larger purse.
“We haven’t heard anything from Tyson that would be the evidence of his real intention to take part in the fight in London,” he said.
“Even if Tyson says today he was stupid and has realised he’s doing bad things for the fight and says let’s fight on April 29, it will still take a certain amount of time to fix the paperwork.
“Only a small passage of time will be left for promotion. A fight this big needs to be given time to promote – it is not likely.”
Fury’s team believes even if a deal cannot be agreed for April, the undisputed fight can still happen later this year once each fighter has faced their mandatory challengers.
There has not been an undisputed heavyweight fight since 1999 – and no champion in the four-belt era.
“The fight we still want is Tyson for the undisputed,” Krassyuk added. “It’s Usyk’s objective. His purpose is to go through all the challenges in the training camp and have four belts around his arm.
“I visited him at his training camp and spent quite good time there. He’s relaxed, it’s his normal state of mind.
“Whatever comes, he’s grateful to get it. He might be a bit disappointed, but he won’t throw in the towel and give up on his road to greatness.”
Briton Dubois first in line for Usyk
As unified champion, Usyk may now be required to defend against mandatory challengers and Dubois is first in line, said Krassyuk.
Warren, who also promotes Dubois, will push for the Londoner to fight Usyk next – should the Fury contest fall through.
The 25-year-old has won 19 fights and lost one. Dubois beat American Trevor Bryan in June last year to win the ‘regular’ heavyweight title and then stopped Kevin Lerena in the third round in December, despite being floored three times in the first.
Undefeated Briton Joe Joyce – who beat Dubois in 2020 – is the WBO’s number one-ranked challenger, while Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic is mandatory for Usyk’s IBF title.
The WBC is yet to confirm Fury’s next mandatory. It was due to be the winner of Deontay Wilder’s fight with fellow American Andy Ruiz Jr, but there are doubts that bout will happen.
