Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn is determined to make sure that Oleksandr Usyk will not get in the way of Anthony Joshua’s planned fights with Tyson Fury.
Usyk is the WBO mandatory challenger for Joshua’s belt and the governing body have been clear that they will not allow Joshua to delay a fight with Usyk unless the Ukranian fighter gives his blessing.
Usyk’s camp have loudly declared that they are not interested in passing up the chance for their fighter to miss out on a world title fight with Joshua, but talks have started to see just how true that claim is.
Joshua’s promoter Hearn spoke to Boxing Social to explain just how hard a bargain Usyk’s team are driving.
He said: “I think it’s a situation where… this isn’t really a dig at any of his team but some people just have the idea that he should be getting millions of dollars to step aside for this fight.
“Really what will happen is, we will apply to the WBO for the undisputed fight and if they say, “No, you need to talk to Oleksandr Usyk” we will go to Oleksandr Usyk and we will try to make him happy to allow that fight to go on.
“It’s like: do you really want to stop this fight from happening? Now you have to be respected because you’re in the mandatory position, but there is a solution.
“As I’ve said before, this fight between Fury and AJ will happen with all the belts or not one belt at all. But the problem is, when there’s a big fight like this, everyone wants… I’ve got to get my words right here. The greed is unbelievable.”
Hearn suggested that should it come to it, Joshua would be willing to vacate his belt if no deal can be agreed.
“It’s going to come down to the fighters,” he explained.
“The fighters are paying millions of dollars in sanction fees. I heard someone say Usyk wants a percentage of AJ and Fury’s purse to step-aside and I was like, “Mate!”
“But there is a solution, and if everyone’s smart together we can find a solution. And I really want it to be undisputed, because that’s always been the dream for AJ and we’ll do everything we can.
“But we’re not going to be held to ransom by anyone. And if we lose one belt we’ll probably vacate them all and say, “This is boxing now”. But if everyone is sensible, and we’ll be fair in return, hopefully we can find a solution.”