Negotiations over a heavyweight title showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have officially collapsed.
It appeared boxing fans would finally get the dream fight slated to take place April 29 at Wembley Stadium after Usyk accepted Fury's demands of a 70/30 purse split.
However, Fury later had issues over a rematch clause (which Usyk immediately denied requesting, stating it was Fury's team who wanted it) leading many fans to believe he was looking for an excuse not to fight the Ukrainian and would end up making further demands.
Ultimately, the demands got too unrealistic as Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk revealed Wednesday that the fight was now dead.
“The fight is called off,” he told talkSPORT. “The reason for that is it went too far. There was a feeling that after Usyk accepted 70-30, Tyson Fury started thinking that he could put a saddle around his neck and start riding Usyk as much as he can.
“It’s not right. I mean, Usyk accepted the 70-30 split as a courtesy. He was so loyal and he was so willing to make this fight happen. But the fight isn’t about Tyson Fury, the fight is about the WBC belt that is pending in his collection.”
Fury didn't do himself any favors while negotiations were ongoing and given that his overall conduct has now led to the fight getting called off completely, it appears the WBC heavyweight champion has lost a good legion of his fans too.
Here are some of Twitter's best reactions to the entire debacle with virtually every boxing fan pinning the blame on Tyson Fury:
Fury makes demands.
Usyk accepts
Fury shouts more
Usyk accepts
Fury changes goal posts
Usyk accepts.
Fight still offAs we all said last week, the 70/30 was an attempt to force the fight off and Usyk called his bluff.
He's shown everyone what Fury is. #FuryUsyk
— Dan 🥊 (@UK_FightNight) March 22, 2023
https://twitter.com/BoxingKingdom14/status/1638654606472527872
Really hope people are now seeing how much of a fraud Tyson Fury is. Ducked the AJ fight last summer and has now somehow managed to shithouse his way out of facing Usyk. Two winnable fights for him as well. Crazy. https://t.co/4zoWTwAlIg
— Jack (@Gittinsssssssss) March 22, 2023
https://twitter.com/BoxingKingdom14/status/1638536135013203968
Been a big fan of Fury for a long time but this is possibly the biggest duck I’ve ever seen https://t.co/oM8u5CbXkF
— Josh (@Joshi_McArthur) March 22, 2023
What a duck 🦆 Fury a fraud https://t.co/y1fbAeHYCe
— Li (@ffelixxxm) March 22, 2023
Without knowing all the details, it’s starting to look like Fury doesn’t fancy this fight. I picked Fury to beat Usyk but maybe he’s not confident. He’s happy facing big hitters but maybe he knows the speed of Usyk could give him nightmares. What other reason could there be 🤷🏻♂️
— matthew macklin (@mattmacklin) March 22, 2023
How Tyson Fury sleeping, knowing he ducked Usyk for Undisputed #FuryUsyk #Boxing pic.twitter.com/Ox22Z5hxC2
— Ray Jackson (@RayJack97010720) March 22, 2023
Fury is the biggest duck of all time https://t.co/gaGdZA5o0g
— Val Dewar (Violenceweight Rankings Steward) (@the3els) March 22, 2023
A love Tyson Fury but this is a complete duck from him. The fact Usyk even agreed to 30% show's who really wanted it and who didn't want it. https://t.co/ieQuYYZwzM
— Gary Short (@Gary_short1) March 22, 2023
Usyk, meanwhile, has left training camp and is now expected to fight Daniel Dubois in the summer.