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Hall of Fame boxing promoter Frank Warren insists Tyson Fury is not to blame for failed fights with Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
The WBC heavyweight champion was supposed to put his title on the line in an undisputed bout with Usyk on April 29 at Wembley Stadium, but that fight fell through.
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Both teams blamed each other, with the Ukrainians publicly accusing Fury of making ‘disrespectful demands’ after the WBO, WBA, and IBF champion agreed to take just 30 per cent of the fight purse.
It’s hoped that the eagerly anticipated four-belt clash will take place in Saudi Arabia later this year as part of a heavyweight mega-event – also featuring Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder – planned by Skill Challenge Entertainment.
Warren claims his team tried to make the fight earlier but says the former cruiserweight champion ignored their offer before signing a promotional deal with Skill Challenge Entertainment who are yet to make a written offer to Fury.
“All Usyk is interested in is, getting a big payday and fighting for big paydays in Saudi Arabia,” he told talkSPORT Fight Night.
“I don’t blame him for that. I understand that but don’t make it that Tyson is the greedy person. You go to Saudi Arabia because they are going to pay a lot of money and that’s what it is.
“If you’re getting paid three or four times the amount of money, whether you want to call it greed, good business, or whatever, that’s not down to Tyson Fury.
“That’s the reason he didn’t want to fight Tyson Fury in the UK.
“We offered him that fight over the summer, and we kept it very quiet, we haven’t banged on about it, and in the interim period Usyk never came back with anything.”
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Determined to fight sooner rather than later, ‘The Gypsy King’ attempted to drum up new interest in a fight between him and Joshua by publicly claiming a ‘draft contract’ has been sent to his rival for a September clash at Wembley Stadium.
However, Eddie Hearn insists that wasn’t the case and revealed his client is planning to face a yet-to-be-decided opponent in August before squaring off against Wilder in December.
“Who is Joshua going to fight in August? They’re slagging off Tyson who is offering him the fight on a 60/40 chance of fighting for the world title,” Warren added.
“You’re going to get 40 per cent of the purse which you wouldn’t get if it went to purse bids. Don’t keep blaming Tyson! I’m not here banging the drum for Tyson.
“They are the facts and what the narrative should be now to AJ is, ‘Why aren’t you taking the fight?’ ‘Who are you going to fight?’ ‘If he’s not going to fight Tyson, why doesn’t he fight the other guy that’s in their camp, [Filip] Hrgović?’”