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Home » Money over glory: Tyson Fury accused of avoiding Oleksandr Usyk

Money over glory: Tyson Fury accused of avoiding Oleksandr Usyk

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Tyson Fury has been accused of ducking Oleksandr Usyk after his promoter took to the airwaves to explain why the undisputed heavyweight fight is stalled.

Despite an “agreement” since December and the pair going head-to-head at ringside in the UK, three months have passed with nothing.

Usyk continues to call out ‘Belly’ to agree to the event the world wants to be signed. However, Fury has been less enthusiastic, judging by his social media activity on the Ukrainian.

World Boxing News reported that Fury has hardly mentioned Usyk on social media compared to his last three opponents. This is unusual for “The Gypsy King” when he wants to face a rival.

Now, as a deadline of Friday will see both sides move on, Frank Warren confirmed that money was the problem. This fact led to a backlash from fans who said Fury chose money over glory.

It was also suggested that due to a lack of funds, outlined by Warren, Fury was not on board with a high-risk, low-reward test against the Pound for Pound king and 2022 WBN Fighter of the Year.

No Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk agreement

Speaking to Simon Jordan on talkSPORT, Warren said: “We’re still none the wiser. We’re still waiting for it to be done. It’s all coming to a head now, but it’s still not done.”

“You need the agreement of both boxers to make it happen. At the moment, we haven’t got that, so that’s where we’re at.”

He continued: “We’re working hard to make it happen, but I’m not going to be conducting negotiations at the moment. They’re confidential between the two parties.

“I would say it’s not going to go past the end of this week, that’s for sure because the proposed date is April 29.”

On the finances involved being a problem, the Hall of Famer stated: “I have a pot. Out of that pot, I can only pay what’s in it. If it’s not enough money, the fight won’t happen. At the end of the day, we’re running a business.”

Warren then admitted that Fury vs Usyk may not happen at the moment due to the impasse.

“To get it agreed, the participants will have to agree. If they agree, then they’ll get it. If not, we’ll move on and try and do it another time.”

“It’s not going to happen”

Pushed to answer, Warren added: “I’m not going to go through all that. You’re asking me to talk about things that I’m not even going to go with. It’s just not going to happen.”

And once again, it’s the fans who suffer.

Usyk has stated his desire to fight on several occasions of late. Fury hasn’t been so forthcoming, leading to the speculation by fans that he’s choosing money over glory.

As things stand, it’s not likely to change.

The views expressed in this article are the opinions of experienced boxing writer Phil Jay. Twitter @PhilJWBN. Follow WBN: Facebook, Insta, Twitter.