Heavyweight boxing

BOXING fans took another gut punch following the collapse of Tyson Fury’s fight with Oleksandr Usyk.The historic title unification would have seen all four heavyweight belts at stake for the first time in history.
Tyson Fury facing off with Oleksandr UsykCredit: REUTERS
But despite terms being agreed, talks broke down at the 11th hour amid a row over financials for a potential rematch.
It proved to be a far too familiar story with yet another blockbuster bout facing the KO.
Here, SunSport runs down five infamous tales of when fights failed to materialise.
Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua
Eerily similar, Britain’s two best had everything in place to unify the belts in Saudi Arabia in August 2021.
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But Fury was contracted to a trilogy bout against Deontay Wilder, which the American forced through following a lengthy court case.
AJ instead went on to fight and lose to Usyk, who kept onto the belts in their subsequent rematch.
It set him up to replace Joshua in a fight with Fury – who had beaten Wilder again – but we have all seen the sad state of recent affairs.
Although in a shock twist, AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn hopes the collapse of talks with Usyk could see Joshua instead fight Fury next.
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Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have failed to fightCredit: AFP
Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder
The year is 2019 and it is Fury looking on from the outside with Joshua and Wilder owning the WBA, IBF, WBO and WBC titles respectively.
And sports streaming service DAZN and Hearn were ready to prise Wilder over to jump ship.
He was said to have been offered a three-bout deal – including a pair of fights with AJ – worth around £80m.
But Wilder opted to reject it and stay with PBC and Showtime, going on to twice lose to Fury in their trilogy epic following their 2018 draw.
The Bronze Bomber remains on the comeback trail with a score-settling showdown with Joshua among his current options.
Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua are yet to fight
Lennox Lewis vs Vitali Klitschko II
Lewis was taken to the brink of defeat by Klitschko in their 2003 classic.
But Klitschko was pulled out in round six following a horror cut, declaring Lewis the winner.
The Ukrainian was ahead of the judges scorecards and in control of the bout, causing demand for a rematch.
Klitschko went on to defeat Kirk Johnson and become mandatory for Lewis’ WBC title.
But the British legend would later announce his retirement in 2004, causing the rematch to fall through.
Vitali Klitscchko was beaten by Lennox LewisCredit: Getty – Contributor
Lennox Lewis vs Riddick Bowe
The heavyweight stars looked on course for a big rematch after Lewis beat Bowe in the 1988 Olympics.
But the two could never see eye to eye in the professional ranks, meaning their super-fight went to waste.
Quite literally when Bowe held a press conference in 1992 to throw his WBC belt in the bin to avoid facing Lewis.
It meant Lewis was crowned the champion by the WBC but he never got the chance to share the ring with Bowe again.
Only last year did the two appear to squash their near-four decade long feud as Bowe approached Lewis at a fight night and shook his hand.
Riddick Bowe throwing the WBC belt in the binCredit: PA:Press Association
Mike Tyson vs George Foreman
Foreman was on a comeback trail in the 90s while Tyson struggled to keep consistency in his career.
They even shared the same card in 1990 and looked on a collision course to clash.
But Tyson would spend three years in jail for a 1992 while Foreman became the oldest heavyweight champ in history aged 45.
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But by the time Tyson was released, Foreman soon lost his titles and later admitted he never really wanted to fight Iron Mike.
He told ESPN in 2019: “If he missed you with his left, then missed you with his right, he’d bite you. I didn’t want to have anything to do with that. I didn’t want him.”
George Foreman with Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray LeonardCredit: Facebook More

OLEKSANDR USYK’S promoter posted a classy message after Tyson Fury announced his seventh child is on the way.The Gypsy King revealed wife Paris is pregnant this week with a heartwarming snap of a date night they shared.
The Furys announced Paris is pregnant with their seventh childCredit: Instagram / @parisfury1
Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk, right, posted a touching message to the coupleCredit: Instagram @alex.krassyuk
And despite falling out with Usyk’s camp over the collapse of his proposed fight with the Ukrainian, promoter Alexander Krassyuk has offered up his well wishes.
He replied to Paris’ Instagram announcement saying: “Wow😍😍😍 Congrats mate @tysonfury. Great job. Wishing love, happiness and all the best to your family 👏.”
Talks between the two parties failed this week with both blaming each other for the breakdown.
Krassyuk accused Fury of making “unacceptable demands” which were disrespectful to a world champion like Usyk.
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But Fury claimed Usyk was running scared and never wanted to fight him, suggesting he was “never man enough to tangle with the Gypsy King”.
The WBC champion, 34, did not seem too bothered about the deal’s collapse as he enjoyed a date night with wife Paris on Thursday.
He revealed his excitement with the pregnancy news saying: “All is not lost! I get to do date night with my beautiful pregnant wife Paris.
“God is great. What a woman. Seventh incoming. Fantastic news to cheer me up.”
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Paris, 32, most recently gave birth to one-year-old Athena in August 2021, who was placed in intensive care immediately after being born.
The couple have two other daughters – Venezuela, 13 and Valencia, five.
They also have three sons named Prince John James, nine, Prince Tyson II, six, and Adonis, four. More

TYSON FURY could hang up his gloves following the collapse of his showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.The Gypsy King’s historic undisputed heavyweight title fight with the undefeated Ukrainian officially fell through on Wednesday after weeks of trying to resurrect the bout.
Tyson Fury’s historic showdown with Oleksandr Usyk officially collapsed this weekCredit: Reuters
The mouthwatering bout fell through after Fury’s constant moving of the goalpostsCredit: GETTY
Promoter Frank Warren has revealed the Gypsy King could go back into retirementCredit: PA
Fury, 34, is “down” following the collapse of the legacy-defining fight, so much so he could opt to bring down the curtain of his career.
Promoter Frank Warren told SecondsOut: “Everything’s too raw at the moment.
“Listen, he may retire. I don’t know what he wants to do. He’ll do whatever he wants to do.”
Fury and Usyk were on course to crown an undisputed ruler of the heavyweight at Wembley on April 29.
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The fight nearly went by the wayside when Fury demanded an outrageous 70 per cent split of the purse, which Usyk stunningly agreed to.
The Gypsy King then demanded there be no rematch clause for the contest, a demand which has ultimately laid waste to the bout.
WBC heavyweight king Fury took aim at the slick southpaw in an explosive Twitter rant on Thursday, saying: ”
“Uysk, you proper little s***bag, bog-eyed, gappy-teethed, ugly little rat b*****d
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“You little slimy f****r.
“[You] tried all week to get out of it [the fight] begging for the rematch.
“You proper little s***bag, bog-eyed, gappy-teethed, ugly little rat b*****d.
“You tried all week to get to it, begging like a little girl. You got your rematch and you didn’t even want to fight at that.
“You little s***house p***y.
“Always know, p***y, that you were never man enough to tangle with the Gypsy King ever in your life, you little s***thouse.

🥊 Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk – Date, live stream, TV channel and all you need to know about heavyweight bout
“You little 14-stone coward.
“You little s***bag, you rat little b*****d.
“Your full team know as well and all the lawyers have got [the] full information.”
The former unified heavyweight champ then taunted Usyk over his seemingly nailed-on showdown with mandatory WBA title challenger Daniel Dubois.
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He continued: “You little ugly b*****d, keep running. Fight Dubois at the Copper Box, s**t bag.
“And always know you, or anybody else like ya, could ever tangle with the Gypsy King.” More

LAWRENCE OKOLIE remains close with mentor Anthony Joshua but has set fire to his relationship with Eddie Hearn.The 30-year-old WBO world cruiserweight champion has undergone a drastic overhaul of his career, parting with AJ’s 258 management team, the DAZN streaming app fronted by Joshua, and Hearn’s Matchroom promotional stable.
Lawrence Okolie has claimed that Eddie Hearn does not understand everything about boxingCredit: Hamish Brown/SCTR
As the boxing promoter has never stepped inside of the ringCredit: Rex
Okolie only took up boxing after watching 33-year-old Joshua win the 2012 London Olympics, while working a shift in McDonalds. And he seemed close to Hearn after he guided him to a world title win in 2021.
But, ahead of Saturday’s comeback bout against David Light after a year out settling these business disputes, Okolie explains his admiration remains for AJ but the same cannot be said of Hearn.
The 18-0 Hackney ace said: “As people, me and Joshua are still friendly.
“He’s someone that no matter what happens going forwards, I’m always going to have respect for. 
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“My life has changed through his life if that makes sense. That’s something I’ll never take away from. Business is business. It is what it is. 
“AJ is a fighter who understands certain things not like someone like Eddie – who has never been in a ring – will understand.”
Okolie and fellow 2016 Olympian Joshua Buatsi have almost identical stories, coming from London, starring as amateurs, signing with AJ and Hearn and both recently leaving for Sky Sports, with plenty of bad blood.
The always reserved and respectful Buatsi, 30, also parted on spikey terms, accusing Hearn of being deliberately misleading about his career.
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And Okolie goes deeper, suggesting the way Hearn handles his fighters and the truth will have a negative effect on future generations of British fighters.
“It’s not just about me and Buatsi,” he said. “If stuff keeps going the way it’s going then it will keep happening. 
“I think what people need to understand is it is not about us. 
“I’ve only got a few years in the ring left, god willing, then you have all the up-and-comers.
“We went to a boxing gym on Wednesday, full of kids and we don’t know which one of them kids is going to be the next champion. 
“They’re looking and wondering: ‘Why is Lawrence saying this, why is Buatsi saying this and why is the next person saying this?’ 
“It’s just about helping the next ones that are coming through. That’s what we have to focus on.” More

TYSON FURY is gutted that his undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk collapsed – even if he’ll never show it.Late on Tuesday night, the six-month talks went up in smoke over the purse split of the rematch.
Tyson Fury is gutted that his fight with Oleksandr Usyk collapsedCredit: Getty
The bout against the Ukrainian fell through after a disagreement on a rematch purse splitCredit: Getty
Trainer SugarHill Steward (right) insists Fury wants ‘to fight’Credit: Getty
WBC champ Fury, 34 had already squeezed every penny out of the 36-year-old WBA, IBF and WBO boss by getting 70-30 of the April 29 Wembley showdown and Uysk wanted the same deal if he won in London and they secured a rerun.
The Gypsy King, who has already held all of Usyk’s three belts after he dethroned Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, insists the ultimate four-belt supremacy means nothing to him.
But American trainer SugarHill Steward says his ever-bullish protege will be bruised by this super-fight collapsing: “Of course Tyson is down, he wants to fight.
“He’ll fight any heavyweight with a big name. Tyson was ready, Tyson is always ready.
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“He would fight after an eight-week camp, I tell him he only needs six because he is old school. Tyson is old school so he is always training.”
When asked if the frustrating failure to secure the biggest fight in boxing could send Fury spiralling back toward his mental health problems, Steward said: “It can happen to anyone, it can happen to me, anyone.”
Fury currently has no mandatory challenger for his WBC crown – unlike Usyk, who has to face WBA mandatory Daniel Dubois this summer – so he can pick his next opponent.
And Steward – in Manchester to train WBO cruiserweight champ Lawrence Okolie for his Saturday night defence against David Light – says any big man, with a big profile, can step into the fray with as little as one month’s warning.
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The Kronk gym mastermind said: “I want Tyson to fight anyone who is willing to get in there and fight him without all this contractual baggage. Anyone like that will get that fight made.
“If you need ten weeks to train for another man, you ain’t in boxing.
“You should already be in shape, you should not have a lot of weight to lose, and if you need to lose weight, it would come off in a heartbeat.
“Those long training camps are for fighters who are not ready, who are out of shape and haven’t been doing anything.
“In the old days, people didn’t need a 12-week camp because they had a world title fight eight weeks after their last fight.
“Guys stayed in shape, boxing was their lifestyle, as it should be. It’s Tyson’s lifestyle, as it should, he can fight anyone on four weeks’ notice.”
Fury himself launched and extraordinary x-rated rant accusing Usyk of ‘running’ from their now-dead undisputed heavyweight showdown.
a frustrated Fury took to Instagram on Thursday to say: “Uysk, you proper little s***bag, bog-eyed, gappy-teethed, ugly little rat b*****d
“You little slimy f****r. [You] tried all week to get out of it [the fight] begging for the rematch.
“You proper little s***bag, bog-eyed, gappy-teethed, ugly little rat b*****d. You tried all week to get to it, begging like a little girl. You got your rematch and you didn’t even want to fight at that.
“You little s***house p***y. Always know, p***y, that you were never man enough to tangle with the Gypsy King ever in your life, you little s***thouse.
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“You little 14-stone coward. You little s***bag, you rat little b*****d.
“Your full team know as well and all the lawyers have got [the] full information.” More