Eddie Hearn Slams ‘Greedy’ Oleksandr Usyk For Step Aside Demands
Eddie Hearn has let rip at Oleksandr Usyk and his “greedy” team who he says are trying to derail a heavyweight undisputed fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
Usyk is the mandatory challenger for the WBO heavyweight title currently held by Joshua. The organization will not allow ‘AJ’ to fight Fury for all the belts without Usyk giving the green light. The former undisputed cruiserweight champion has repeatably claimed he will push for his shot. However, Eddie Hearn is determined to make Joshua vs. Fury next and is currently trying to convince Team Usyk to step aside.
In an interview with Boxing Social, Hearn explained the tough task in front of him as Usyk’s team wants “millions of dollars to step aside for this fight”.
“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,” Hearn said.
“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.”
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.”
Do you think Eddie Hearn will come to a step aside agreement with Usyk?
