Anthony Joshua and Treble champion Usik suffered major setbacks over the venue, with Joshua's promoter Herne wanting him to take home advantage and scheduling the match in London, while Usik disagreed, who was interested in playing in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn wants to re-stage the game at Tottenham Hotspur because he feels the game in London will increase his chances of winning back the golden belt. But Saudi Arabia has offered an offer, and Herne says Usik prefers to go abroad to play.
Both boxers had to agree to a venue to rematch the match before the match, which was prized 50-50, and Hearn could understand Usik's reluctance to return to London. He didn't want to cede Joshua's home-court advantage to Joshua, even though he replaced Joshua as a world champion in September.
"If the contracts offered and the venue costs can be realized, it will be very difficult for us to get Usik to go to the UK and frankly we can see from their perspective, 'Why should I spend half the money back in England?' Hearn said.
'We want to go to London, which is a big advantage for Joshua, if this game is brought back to London, but there is no way that Usik will allow us to go to London, so we have to take that into account, but Joshua himself just wants to fight.'
Usik's promoter Alexander Krassyuk said last week he hoped to set a location and date in the next two weeks, and Hearn agreed to his timeline. Both sides are still considering in late June or early July, when Usik defends his WBA Super, IBF and WBO Belt, where he won Joshua so has a psychological advantage.