BOXING
Hearn accuses Fury of greed and 'playing' fans as Usyk talks stall
Eddie Hearn accused Tyson Fury of "playing" fans for years amid a stall in talks regarding a unification bout against Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury and Usyk are expected to face off this year to determine the first unified heavyweight champion since 2000, but discussions are reported to have hit a stumbling block.
On Wednesday, Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk said Fury had rejected a 60-40 purse split in favour of the winner.
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That came after Frank Warren, Fury's promoter, indicated no further talks would take place beyond the end of the week, leaving the fight at risk of collapse.
Hearn – who represents Anthony Joshua and saw negotiations for a clash between him and Fury break down last year – has now hit out at 'The Gypsy King'.
"When are you guys out there going to start understanding? [Fury says] 'It's not about the money, I'll fight him for free, as long as the tickets are free for the general public.' F*** off," Hearn told IFL TV.
"You want money, you want too much money. You're not the draw you think you are, that fight is not as big as you think it is.
— Frank Warren (@FrankWarren) January 6, 2023
"[It's] greed. If you're about legacy, if you want to be undisputed, then you take the fight. Oh, so you're going to get £50million or £60m instead of the £80m or £100m, £125m that you asked for. F*** me. You've all been played for all these years.
"If you really want the fight, you have to make concessions. Fury's got a point, he's a bigger draw, but I'll tell you something now, when Tyson Fury drew with Deontay Wilder [in 2018], we offered him 40-60 to fight Anthony Joshua as a voluntary challenger.
"He came back and said: 'I'll only fight AJ on 50-50.' At the time, AJ was a much bigger draw.
"Tyson Fury is worth more than 50-50 in this fight, but if you want to be the first undisputed heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis, then you take 50-50 and you get the fight done."
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