Frank Warren has claimed that Oleksandr Usyk was never interested in fighting Tyson Fury in the UK and was always looking for a bigger payday in Saudi Arabia.
Following Fury’s trilogy win over Dereck Chisora last December, there was a three to four-month negotiation period with Usyk in hopes of making a bout for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
However, after numerous exchanges between Fury and Usyk’s team, a deal did not come to fruition and now the Ukrainian is set to defend the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles against his mandatory challenger, Daniel Dubois this summer in Poland.
“I’ve been saying for ages, all Oleksandr Usyk is interested in is getting a big payday in Saudi Arabia”, Frank Warren said in a recent interview on talkSPORT.
“I don’t blame him for that. But don’t make it that Tyson Fury is the greedy person. That’s the reason he did not want to fight Fury in the UK.”
Warren’s comments come after Usyk signed a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Skill Challenge Entertainment; a promotional outfit that is interested in staging Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk this December on the same night as Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder.
Frank Warren’s estimated net worth hovered around $15 million.
Meanwhile, Warren is expected to have a meeting soon with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman about Fury putting the WBC belt on the line against a mandatory challenger.
‘The Gypsy King’ has lately called out the likes of Demsey McKean, Jai Opetaia, Jon Jones, and even Anthony Joshua who is likely to make his return against Dillian Whyte in August.
Nevertheless, it’s plausible Fury will be forced to someone from the top 5 WBC rankings instead such as Andy Ruiz or Frank Sanchez.
Oleksandr Usyk on potential undisputed fight with Tyson Fury
Despite agreeing to nearly all of Tyson Fury’s demands earlier in the year and the undisputed heavyweight fight still not happening, Usyk remains confident that he and ‘The Gypsy King’ will share the ring.
After signing with Saudi Arabia’s Skill Challenge Entertainment, Usyk said the following:
“It’s a great opportunity to bring the biggest fight in heavyweight history to the boxing fans of the whole world. Tyson Fury doesn’t want this fight, but we will make it.”
Indeed, fans have so far been robbed of finding out who the best heavyweight in the world is and seeing the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
And Usyk has not shied away from hitting back at comments made by Frank Warren regarding his commercial value when compared to Tyson Fury.
“When I get on my horse in the middle of the field and I gallop as fast as I can, I need good conditioning. But when they speak about milk, corn, wheat – what can I say?”, Usyk said in a different interview with Boxing King Media.
Furthermore, the esteemed Ukrainian who has captured a gold medal at the Olympics, become undisputed at cruiserweight, and is now unified heavyweight champion is unsure if Fury would be the toughest test of his career.
“I haven’t boxed with him yet so I can’t answer this question. My toughest opponent is and has always been myself.”
Not to mention, when asked by Seconds Out who he believes is a harder fight for him between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, Usyk simply stated:
“I think Wilder”.
Finally, irrespective of Warren’s recent comments, Usyk is adamant that it is Fury who is the main reason why they have not fought each other yet.
“Tyson Fury’s greed is something that stands as a challenge in making this fight happen…Stop lying it was his team who asked for the rematch [clause]. He wanted to fight Usyk without Usyk.”
