Andy Ruiz Jr has called for a fight with Tyson Fury after the Gypsy King’s proposed heavyweight unification bout against Oleksandr Usyk fell through.
Fury and Usyk’s camps were locked in talks for months, with the fight tentatively scheduled to take place on April 29 at Wembley Stadium. However, the highly anticipated clash is now off after talks broke down.
Fury’s promoter Frank Warren admitted it is now a “dead duck” and claimed Usyk’s camp “looked for a way to get out”. He said: “They said the fight must take place before 29 April and if it goes later they want different splits.
“The reason they did that was they didn’t think Tyson would be ready for the 29th and suddenly Tyson was ready for it. He has been in training camp for two and a half weeks, got trainers in from America and they looked for a way to get out.”
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Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk, meanwhile, claimed Fury’s camp “went too far” with their demands. “The fight is called off,” he told talkSPORT.
“The reason for that is it went too far. There was a feeling that after Usyk accepted 70/30 Tyson Fury started to think he can put a saddle on his neck and start riding Usyk as much as he can. It is not right.”
And following news that the fight was off, former WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Ruiz called for a clash with Fury. Ruiz, who famously beat Anthony Joshua in 2019, took to social media to share a mock-up fight poster of him facing off against Fury.
“Who would like to see this fight? #LetsGo,” he asked fans. And Fury’s camp has previously floated the idea of Ruiz as a potential replacement opponent for Usyk, with Shane Fury telling Behind The Gloves last month: “If the undisputed fight can’t get made, Tyson still needs to fight.
“I think Andy Ruiz Jr is a good opponent, a good name and is in good form. Fans would want to see that fight.”