In May 2024, in the heavyweight unification battle between Fuli and Usyk in Saudi Arabia, the total remuneration for both sides is $150 million. Among them, Fury will receive $105 million, or 70 percent, and Usyk will receive $45 million, or 30 percent. Fury also needs to donate $1 million to Ukraine. It was the highest single-fight payment ever paid by a heavyweight in history, and Fury set a new record for the amount paid.
Fury and Usyk have serious disagreements over the percentage of honorarium. From the beginning, Fury regarded himself as party A and insisted on accounting for 70%. In order to reach a deal, Usyk had to make huge concessions, agreeing to a 70 percent split for Fury and 30 percent for himself. This is far from what Usyk expected. When the terms of the match were first negotiated in March last year, Usyk made it clear that he would receive a 70 percent gratuity in the rematch, but Fury refused. Negotiations stalled for a time as the two sides struggled to reach agreement on this crucial issue.
It was revealed that in order to advance the negotiation process, Fury even made a low offer of $16 million to Usyk, which was far lower than Usyk's expectations. In the face of Fury's tough attitude, Usyk's team unilaterally announced the cancellation of the match scheduled for April 29. In order to live up to the expectations of the fans, the two sides finally returned to the negotiating table and reached the existing 70-30 share agreement.
In addition to Fury and Usyk, there was originally another bigwig involved in the hosting of this unification battle, that is, Zhang Zhilei, the famous Chinese boxing event agent. Due to the stalemate between the two sides over the issue of remuneration sharing, Zhang Zhilei finally chose to withdraw.
According to internal sources, Zhang Zhilei was originally one of the main organizers of the Fuwu War, and he originally planned to use his connections in the Middle East to operate for this heavyweight unified war known as the "Battle of the Century." However, as the disagreement between Fury and Usyk on the issue of remuneration sharing grew, the negotiations between the two sides repeatedly reached an impasse, and Zhang Zhilei also felt helpless.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Zhang Zhilei has tried to be a mediator between the two sides many times, hoping to resolve differences, but ultimately failed. Since neither side was willing to make concessions on the key issue of remuneration sharing, Zhang Zhilei had to choose to abandon the business, which was seen as "windfall profits". It is reported that Zhang Zhilei lost up to $1 billion in expected earnings as a result.
Zhang Zhilei's withdrawal does not seem to have affected the final hosting of the Fuwu War. It is reported that Saudi Arabia has injected $4 billion into its country's sovereign wealth fund, providing strong financial support for hosting the "war of the century".
The state of Fury and Usyk has also attracted a lot of attention from the outside world. In his most recent warm-up match against Naganno, Fury was disappointing, and at one point he was even considered past his prime. The Fury camp is not worried about this, believing that it is just an "abnormal play".
By contrast, Usyk's state seems even more worrisome. It has been revealed that during the preparation for the fight, Usyk's attitude towards the sparring partner was extremely violent and irrational. Not only did he punch and kick, but he even threw a big fight at the sparring partner. This "violent" training method makes one wonder if Usyk can control his emotions.