Barring a dramatic turnaround, Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk looks unlikely to happen in the near future.
The failed match-up joins the list of great boxing fights we agonisingly never got to see in the ring.
Whether you blame the promoters, managers, Fury himself or the Ukrainian soldier who accepted the narrow end of a 70/30 split and has spent his career fighting world champions in their backyards.
It unfortunately appears the Fury-Usyk undisputed heavyweight showdown has hit a brick wall.
If the fight never happens, it will join the roll call of would-be megafights that should have taken place but unfortunately never did.
Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, Ricky Hatton, Sugar Ray Leonard and a plethora of other world champions were all involved in epic contests.
But boxing fans have still been left wanting more from their idols.
Here talkSPORT.com runs you through the ten fights we really wish we’d got to see in the ring.
Lennox Lewis vs Riddick Bowe
Infamous for the photo of ‘Big Daddy’ Bowe dropping his green WBC belt in a trash can rather than fight Lewis, this feud simmered with bad blood.
Like Fury and Usyk, both men were unbeaten in 1992, with Bowe the new undisputed heavyweight champ after defeating Evander Holyfield.
Lewis, who beat the younger Bowe in the 1988 Olympic final, was the mandatory challenger, but Bowe, through animosity or fear, clearly never fancied meeting Lewis in a pro ring.
The insults flew but the punches never did. A shame because two skilled, heavy-handed giants with a genuine grudge and a US vs UK twist? This could’ve been epic.
Floyd Mayweather vs Paul Williams
The real answer to the ‘lost’ Mayweather fight we all wanted is: Manny Pacquiao at his peak, not five years too late.
But for an opponent Mayweather never fought at all – how about a 6ft 2in, hard-punching southpaw nicknamed ‘The Punisher’?
When Mayweather stepped up to 147lbs in 2007 to beat Oscar De La Hoya and become a megastar, Williams was the division’s dangerman.
Yet after Williams saw off fellow threat Antonio Margarito, Floyd chose to fight the smaller Ricky Hatton before retiring for two years.
Chances are Floyd would’ve found a way to beat Williams, as he did with everybody, but it would have been a lot more intriguing than some of his late-career ‘challenges’.
Mike Tyson vs George Foreman
The two most destructive heavyweight punchers of their own generations – but there was a window where this could’ve happened.
Foreman’s comeback in his 40s coincided with Tyson’s prime and for a while the pair were the two most marketable boxers on the planet.
A bout was discussed, but there were fears for Foreman’s health against ‘Iron Mike’.
And yet the flaws that undid Tyson – his own lack of focus, especially against an opponent with a solid chin and a good jab – could actually have played into Foreman’s hands.
Still, Foreman in retirement politely played down any thoughts he could’ve won at that age.
“Mike Tyson was a monster,” Big George said.
“Those are the kind of guys you see in a nightmare, and you go: ‘Wake up, wake up!’”
Ricky Hatton vs Miguel Cotto
This fight looked nailed-on when the pair rose up the light-welterweight ranks.
Hatton and Cotto were exciting, hook-happy pressure fighters with huge fanbases in Britain and Puerto Rico.
They were only two years apart in age, so a head-on collision seemed inevitable.
Yet weirdly it never did – and this one can’t even be blamed for one fighter ‘ducking’ the other, as both fought tough challenges their whole careers.
Cotto simply stepped up in weight, Hatton did so later, and there was never quite a ‘right time’ for this fight to take place.
A shame, as fight fans were robbed of a sure-fire war.
Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder
Like Fury vs Usyk – and one more fight on this list – this is a bout that could still belatedly happen.
But it simply won’t mean as much as if it had taken place from 2016 to 2019.
Back then, Joshua and Wilder were undefeated heavyweights, each with a piece of the world title.
More importantly, they were a pair of popular, explosive, occasionally vulnerable colossuses.
Negotiations for a unification bout took place but never resulted in an AJ vs the Bronze Bomber showdown that surely would’ve ended in a KO – one way or the other.
James Toney vs Nigel Benn/Chris Eubank
One of the unfortunate sides of the red-hot super-middleweight scene of the 1990s is that the big British and Irish stars (Benn, Eubank, Steve Collins) never fought the elite Americans (Toney and Roy Jones).
A bout between Toney and the winner of the 1993 Benn-Eubank rematch was teased when a glowering ‘Lights Out’ took part in the pre-fight hype show (hurling insults at both live via video from the US).
That contest ended in a draw and, while Benn and Eubank went on to more spectacular wars, neither ended up fighting the trash-talking Toney.
Sad, as it would’ve been worth it for the press conferences alone.
Joe Frazier vs Ken Norton
Both had famous trilogies with Muhammad Ali in the golden age of heavyweight boxing in the 1970s.
Yet all-action ‘Smokin Joe’ and muscular ‘Fighting Marine’ Norton never actually did, well, fight.
Only a fool would accuse either man of lacking courage – and the reason turned out to be something far worse.
They never traded punches because they were incredibly good mates.
“Joe and I are very close friends and no amount of money would make me want to fight him,” Norton explained once.
What sort of honourable conduct is this? Disgusting.
Terence Crawford vs Errol Spence
Add this to the list with AJ-Wilder and Fury-Usyk of bouts that could still happen… but look increasingly unlikely.
Crawford vs Spence appears particularly damned because negotiations seemed so close last year, before acrimoniously falling apart.
A fiasco because this is the best fight in the sport: two great welterweights, both undefeated, still near the peak of their powers, with real ill-feeling and intriguingly different skill sets.
The winner could claim to be the best pound-for-pound fighter of the post-Mayweather era.
But with Crawford aged 35 and Spence 33, time has almost slipped away for this contest.
Erik Morales vs Juan Manuel Marquez
These modern Mexican legends fought Pacquiao a total of seven times between them – but couldn’t find time to fight each other once? What madness is this?
Of course nobody would accuse Morales or Marquez, both four-weight world champions, of avoiding anybody at all (definitely not to their faces).
This is more about timing: despite being the younger fighter, the ferocious ‘El Terrible’ Morales peaked earlier whereas ice-cold technician Marquez found fame at the end of his career.
This robbed us of a Mexican civil war for the ages.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs Aaron Pryor
Ray Leonard fought and beat Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler – so it’s probably harsh to define him by who he didn’t fight. But one name stands out.
The non-stop ‘Hawk’ Pryor was a skilled, dangerous unbeaten 140lbs champion when Leonard was at his peak at 147lbs.
Yet in late 1982, with Pryor in his prime, Leonard retired at age 26 due to an eye injury.
That retirement did not last forever, but by the time Leonard came back full-time, Pryor’s problems with drugs had hurt his career and he was hardly active himself.
Another case of bad timing stealing an all-American super-fight from us.
