Usyk's promoter hopeful of Fury fight, wants 50/50 split between both fighter

The Oleksandr Usyk promoter believes that all participants in the fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship should receive equal compensation.

Usyk, the champion of the WBO, WBA, IBF, and IBO heavyweight divisions, and Fury, the WBC champion from England, have been in discussions to square off for the four championship titles in the spring.

The Usyk-Fury fight's discussions, however, suddenly came to a standstill after months of what appeared to be easy sailing. According to an ESPN article from last week, Mike Coppinger, the bout is not expected to take place in the Middle East, where it was originally planned to happen and where both combatants might have theoretically earned their greatest career paychecks. The event will now take place in late April at London's Wembley Stadium, according to the organizers.

According to reports, money is now the issue. If the bout is held in England, both combatants would have to accept a comparatively lower payout.

Usyk's chief handler, Alexander Krassyuk, revealed to BoxingScene.com on Monday that he would be leaving for London tomorrow to seal a deal with Queensberry, the promoter of Fury.

Asserting that Fury is now seeking the lion's share of the prize money, Krassyuk claimed his side will not accept anything less than a 50-50 split for Usyk. A 50-50 split is "more than fair," according to Krassyuk, considering Usyk has three titles to Fury's one.

“I can’t really say anything in particular because we’re in the middle of negotiations,” Krassyuk said, “but I can say for sure if it’s a fair deal when it comes to the unification—which is the undisputed unification, where one fighter has three belts and the other has one belt—a 50-50 split sounds fair. It sounds more fair than it should be.

“If Tyson accepts this fair condition, it means he’s a real warrior and he really wants to fight not just for money but for heritage, for legacy and for four belts in the biggest fight in heavyweight history at Wembley stadium. Why not? End of April, beginning of May, perfect timing.