EDDIE HEARN has claimed Tyson Fury has pulled out of fighting Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed title.
Usyk is currently contracted to a rematch with AJ, having beaten the British superstar in September for the WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
But Middle Eastern backers were leading talks for the Ukrainian to instead face WBC champion Fury in a historic four-belt unification.
For that to happen, AJ and WBC mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte would need to receive a fee sit out.
And Hearn admitted they were ready to listen to offers for Joshua, but would also need a guarantee of fighting the winner between Fury and Usyk.
But the promoter has now claimed the Gypsy King ‘never wanted’ to fight Usyk and will instead face No1 contender Whyte.
Hearn told iFL TV: “The reality of the situation is; we would be willing to see a long-form agreement with a plan for AJ.
“But we’re not even at that stage. Tyson Fury had the opportunity to discuss – Fury doesn’t want to fight Usyk, in my opinion.
“Because he had the opportunity to do it through these discussions and really, when it came down to it, he really don’t want to.
“What Fury wants to do is have a little easy one in March, that’s what he really wants to do.
“Now, he’s going to have to fight Dillian Whyte, and by the way, after all of this kerfuffle, he’ll get beat by Dillian Whyte, he’ll get knocked out by Dillian Whyte.
“But the reality is, when it really came down to it, he never wanted to fight Oleksandr Usyk.
“Because he could’ve gone straight into a fight with Oleksandr Usyk, but he didn’t want to go straight into a fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
“But you won’t ever hear that and the public won’t ever hear that. You’ll just hear Fury on Instagram, screaming and shouting with smoking mirrors.”
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