“We are very close to organizing the Usyk-Fury fight.” Krasyuk on negotiations, conditions of the Saudis and fees

Promoter of the unified heavyweight champion (over 90.7 kg) from Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) Alexander Krasyuk gave an interview for YouTube channel
boxoffice.

In a conversation, the CEO of K2 Promotions Ukraine spoke about the state of affairs in the negotiation process of the fight for the title of absolute world champion between Usyk and WBC title holder Briton Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs). Alexander expressed his opinion about the disruption of the fight in Saudi Arabia and answered the question about the fees of the fighters.

– We are in London. Sasha has just returned from negotiations with Frank Warren. We saw on Instagram that you attended a football match. Tell us how these negotiations went, what’s new, is there a specific date, and so on?

– Huge amount of information. I really returned from the negotiations, but it was one of the stages of the negotiations. Our negotiations will continue. And it is quite possible that we will have some results at the time of the release of this video. I will talk about the state of affairs at the moment, and what is behind it all. These negotiations are very difficult. Unexpectedly hard. Despite the fact that everyone wants to organize this fight, the whole world is waiting for the organization of the fight for the title of the absolute world heavyweight champion with four belts, which has never happened in the history of professional boxing, nevertheless, we run into some difficulties.

Egis Klimas gave a comment to the American press. He said that if Usyk and Fury had agreed for the fight, it would have taken 5 minutes. I cannot but agree with this. We have very solid information that Tyson Fury wants this fight. And as a champion, he is right about how the proceeds from this fight will be distributed. But we have its representatives – these are two promotional companies: this is Top Rank, headed by Bob Arum and Queensberry Promotions by Frank Warren. George Warren is in charge of all operational activities, and, in principle, he is in charge of the entire company now. So we run into some difficult aspects, namely the distribution of income.

“They stepped on grandfather’s toes.” Krasyuk about the conflict with Bob Arum

There is an argument on the one hand that Tyson Fury sells a huge number of stadium tickets. But we do not forget that out of the four fights that Oleksandr Usyk had in the UK, only one was not sold – with Derek Chisora, when there were no spectators at all due to the covid situation. Yes, Tyson Fury is probably a more massive star in America and in the UK, but the synergistic effect that the duel produces in which these two champions meet, and the status that this duel has, is incommensurable. It is very difficult to measure the participation of everyone here. Therefore, we proposed not to measure belts, who has how many of them, but immediately enter two fights with a rematch, in which the distribution will be fair, as between two champions – “fifty-fifty”. And remembering the experience of Tyson Fury and his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, which never took place, we understand that Tyson Fury is a specific person, he needs to be motivated. Therefore, in the event of his defeat in the first match, we are ready to provide motivation in the form of the same “fifty-fifty” distribution of income. So that a person does not leave boxing, so that he stays and tries to take his belt back, and all the belts.

– I understand that the distribution of fees will be 50 to 50. We have already agreed on this.

Yes, we have a clear understanding in all respects – 50 to 50. One parameter that we are now talking about is income from the ticket office. That is, how much will be sold and how they will be distributed. I’m still optimistic. As Bob Arum says, “I’m very optimistic.” I will support my grandfather in this regard. Really. We are very close to shaking hands, but we are in boxing. Even if we shake hands and sign a contract, it is not certain that this fight will take place due to the mass of other circumstances that may occur. And we have a plan B. If this fight does not take place, Alexander must begin to answer for his belts to the mandatory contenders. Our next mandatory challenger is Dubois, who also works with Frank Warren. If our big fight doesn’t take place, we will move into the WBA mandatori fight if Dubois has recovered from the injury he suffered on the Fury-Chisora ​​undercard.

– I heard that this fight was planned in Saudi Arabia, but now the news has already gone that this fight may take place in London.

– Yes, we are really planning this fight now in London, at Wembley. The stadium is booked for April 29 specifically for this event. Indeed, we planned to organize this fight in Saudi Arabia, but circumstances developed in such a way that due to some difficulties, quite possibly financial difficulties, quite possibly organizational ones … But the Saudis do not confirm the date of April 29 for us. More precisely, they confirmed it several times, but now they don’t confirm it anymore and they talk about their readiness to organize this fight in the fall.

– It is too long.

– This is impossible. Because Usyk fought in the summer, in August. He needs a fight, he’s already in training camp. This is impossible from the point of view that the sanctioning organizations will not wait so long, will not give the opportunity not to carry out mandatory protection for so long, since this is the functioning of their business.

– Are the amounts of fees for Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk known?

— In view of the fact that we are talking about the percentage distribution, we say that the amounts are unknown. And this is the whole game of the duel when he has such a high status. That is, this is aerobatics in boxing, this is pay-per-view.