Frank Warren says Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk is NOT OFF as he insists a deal can still be agreed to make the blockbuster undisputed showdown.
The Wembley Stadium bout had appeared to be off after the Ukrainian's manager said that negotiations broke down following exchanges with Fury's camp.
It's believed that Fury and Usyk 'couldn't agree on other material terms critical to the deal beyond the split.'
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However, the British star's promoter, Warren, has now claimed Fury vs. Usyk is NOT dead yet as he plans to hold further talks with Alex Krassyuk.
When he was asked to confirm whether the fight is off, the 71-year-old told talkSPORT: "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.'
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"We got that yesterday, that’s the first we heard of it."
Warren continued by explaining the issue surrounding the rematch clause, claiming he has convinced Fury to include a second bout in the contract.
"We got it all out the way except for one issue and that was the rematch," he added.
"Tyson publicly stated that we should scrap the rematch, this was to simplify the deal.
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"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."
Warren also suggested Team Usyk want a rematch clause because it secures two paydays.
"You know why they want the rematch clause? Because it’s two paydays," he explained.
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"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.
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"I know what that deal is so we’ll go with that, no problem with that."
Will Fury vs. Usyk happen? Stay tuned to SPORTbible to find out.
Topics: Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, Boxing
Nasir Jabbar