Talks over Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s unification super-fight has broken down again, with the Ukrainian fighter’s manager blaming the ‘Gypsy King’. 
The two fighters’ camps have been locked in talks and social media taunting to agree a deal to crown the heavyweight division’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000. Usyk, the IBF, WBO and WBA champion, even agreed to Fury’s 70-30 split in the Brit’s favour and a date at Wembley for April 29 was provisionally set but, according to reports, “other material terms critical to the deal beyond the split” could not be agreed upon. After months of negotiations, provisions for an April 29 bout at London’s Wembley Stadium have collapsed, with the Ukrainian’s team confirming he has left his training camp. Egis Klimas, the manager of the WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight champion told ESPN that despite his client publicly agreeing to a 70-30 split, Fury continued making demands: “No matter how much Usyk compromised, he was pushed for more,” he said.
Another British fighter in Daniel Dubois is next in line to fight Usyk should they be unable to revive the Fury fight. The 25-year-old Londoner won the WBA ‘regular’ title last summer after knocking out Trevor Bryan and defended the belt before Christmas. The WBA officially ordered Usyk to defend his title against Dubois in December but at that stage, it looked unlikely that ruling would affect plans for the undisputed clash against Fury. The WBA have since set a new deadline for 1 April for Fury vs Usyk to be made, with mandatory challenger Dubois waiting in the wings. Usyk’s promoter, Alexander Krassyuk, who has held major doubts over the fight going ahead in recent weeks, has welcomed talk of a fight against Dubois in England.
Shakhtar Donetsk has announced that they will be using £20.5 million from the sale of Mykhaylo Mudryk to Chelsea, to fund Ukrainian soldiers and their families who have been affected by the war with Russia. 22-year-old Mudryk signed an eight-and-a-half-year deal worth €100 million with Chelsea. The deal includes an initial fee of 70 million euros and 30 million euros in performance-related add-ons. In an official statement on the club’s website, Shakhtar Donetsk President Rinat Akhmetov said they will be using £20.5 million from the deal to help those who have been affected by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. It read; “‘FC Shakhtar has signed a final agreement with Chelsea FC and thus Ukrainian footballer Mykhaylo Mudryk will continue his career with the Blues in the strongest national championship, the English Premier League. 
“First and foremost, I want to thank the entire civilised world for helping Ukraine. Today we are able to talk about Ukrainian football thanks to the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people, and the tremendous support of the entire civilised world. “Only by joining efforts we will defeat the evil that has come to our homes. “I have never made it a secret that my dream is to win European trophies. This means that players like Mudryk should be invited to our club, to our Ukrainian championship, and we should win European trophies with such players, rather than root for them, even when they play in the world’s top clubs. “Unfortunately, it is impossible now, as Ukraine is fighting the horrendous and unjust war waged against us by the Russian Federation. But I am confident that we will win. And we will play a friendly against Chelsea at Donbass Arena in a Ukrainian Donetsk. 
“That is why I have made a decision to launch the Heart of Azovstal, a project designed to help Mariupol defenders and the families of fallen soldiers. Their acts of bravery are unparalleled in the modern history. “I am allocating $25 million [£20.5m] today to help our soldiers, defenders, and their families. The money will be used to cover different needs — from providing medical and prosthetic treatment and psychological support to meeting specific requests. “To ensure transparency, the project will have a professional independent team that will be in touch with the Azovstal defenders, their families, care providers, and volunteers.” As well as the money from the sale, Shakhtar will also play a friendly against Chelsea at the Donbass Arena sometime in the future. The Ukrainian side haven’t been able to play at their actual home ground since 2014 because of the war in the Donbass area of the country which began before the full invasion by Russia last year.