Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk: Anthony Joshua step-aside talks break down

Anthony Joshua looks dejected
Anthony Joshua has an automatic rematch with Oleksandr Usyk

Talks for Anthony Joshua to step aside from his second fight with Oleksandr Usyk are on the verge of collapsing.

Tyson Fury and his team were trying to convince Joshua to give up his right to fight Usyk so that an undisputed title bout could take place.

Both sides blamed the other as talks broke down.

The purse bids for the bout will be due on Friday.

Eddie Hearn broke the news on Thursday at a news conference for Lawrence Okolie.

There are four people in this mix, and everyone has to be on board with the same proposal.

Tyson Fury doesn't want to fight Oleksandr Usyk next in an undisputed fight, so he wants to have an interim fight in March. There is no talk to be had.

As we stand here right now, Dillian Whyte will go to purse bids tomorrow in Mexico City.

Frank Warren, co-promoter of the fight, said that the reason the fight was not going ahead was not because of Fury.

The negotiations hit a brick wall when Joshua asked for 20 million instead of the 15 million already on offer.

The deal is dead. We move on to the purse bids tomorrow.

Usyk took Joshua's world titles when he out-boxed him.

There was still a chance that an agreement could be reached, according to Joshua's promoter.

They are never over until those envelopes are open.

Outside of purse bids, there's no real negotiations for Fury against Whyte. It would take Tyson Fury to say "okay look maybe I'll fight Usyk" but you never know what he's going to do".

He wants to fight Dillian Whyte. He hasn't mentioned that before, but we're doing that right now. We will be ready to bid tomorrow.

Joshua's team, which includes his management company 258 MGT, see the benefits of a step- aside deal with the two-time world champion set to make changes to his coaching team.

Shortly after the news broke that talks had broken down, he said that he was looking forward to the fight.

He asked, "Who else can wait for the fight?" The best of Britain.

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