Anthony Joshua “asked for an extra $5 million” to allow Tyson Fury to fight Oleksandr Usyk, according to the Gypsy King’s promoter Frank Warren.
AJ, 32, lost to Usyk, 34, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September, losing his WBA (Super), IBF and WBO heavyweight world titles in the process.
Joshua’s Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed the British heavyweight had been offered a step-aside fee to let Fury take his place in his contracted rematch with Usyk, which is expected to take place in the spring.
However, sadly it looks like that won’t be happening after all, with both parties blaming each other for the breakdown in negotiations.
Hearn claimed Fury decided not to face Usyk next but Warren was having none of it.
He even went so far as to suggest that it was Joshua’s fault for being “too greedy”.
Speaking to talkSPORT, the 69-year-old said: “As far as Tyson was concerned, it dragged on.
“When Joshua asked for an extra $5 million, he said: ‘Enough is enough,’ and that was it.
“He said: ‘I’m not interested, he’s too greedy,’ and that was enough.
“He’s a champion – Tyson’s not beholden to Anthony Joshua.
“Him and Usyk wanted to get it on, both of them wanted to get it on.
“But you had two people in the middle – one was suing the WBC and the other one was asking for more and more money.”
As always, there are two sides to every story, and Hearn has given his own version of events.
Fury, 33, has been ordered to fight Dillian Whyte by the WBC, with an official announcement to be made in the coming week.
Hearn insists it was Fury’s decision – not Joshua’s – which caused the undisputed championship to fall apart.
He told talkSPORT: “The reality is Tyson Fury does not want to fight Oleksandr Usyk next for the undisputed championship.
“He wants to have an interim bout, and that’s what slowed things down.
“We couldn’t really understand – you’ve just beaten Deontay Wilder, this is the undisputed fight and then he wants the interim bout.
“Then last night: ‘No, I want to fight Dillian Whyte next.’
“So all the work that’s been going on behind the scenes – I haven’t been driving those talks, I’ve been mostly listening – it’s kind of crumbled away.
“Because Fury has decided: ‘No actually, I don’t want to fight Usyk for the undisputed, actually I want to fight Dillian Whyte.’
“We needed to come up with a path and plan that everyone was comfortable with and ultimately, not everyone was comfortable with it.”
