Dan Azeez has hit back strongly at Eddie Hearn after his comments about the Joshua Buatsi fight postponement.
It was announced by Ben Shalom’s BOXXER on Tuesday that Azeez suffered a back injury in his final training session and so the light-heavyweight fight, which was due to take place on Saturday night, is being pushed back.
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Azeez is furious with Hearn’s commentsCredit: Getty
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Hearn used to promote Buatsi, who left DAZN to return to SkyCredit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Hearn previously promoted Buatsi and so was asked for his thoughts on Tuesday, having previously said a week ago that he did not believe the fight would take place.
Hearn told talkSPORT Drive: “I don’t know about any injury. In boxing you hear a lot of stuff, some stuff that’s true, some that’s not.
“I’d heard that the event wasn’t – this is just what I heard – wasn’t going particularly well and it was unlikely to take place.
“Whether that was true or not, and he ended up getting an injury, it’s very strange to get an injury on the Tuesday of fight week.”
Shalom has said he intends to reschedule the fight before the end of this year and claimed 10,000 tickets were sold for it at the O2 Arena.
“I just think it’s strange to get an injury on the Tuesday of fight week,” Hearn added when asked to clarify his comments, “It very rarely happens when you’ve gone through camp.
“This is really a period where you’re not really doing that much, you’re tapering down on your weight, you’re not having any strenuous sessions, you’re not having any S&C.
“But of course injuries can happen at any time.
“I’m sure it’s very legitimate and it’s a shame because Buatsi’s career has really stalled horrifically and he needs to get himself a shot at the world title.”
These comments have not gone down well with Azeez, who joined White and Jordan on talkSPORT on Thursday and fired back.
“Do you know what? I’m all for rival promoters having a little dig here and there,” Azeez said, “But not at the expense of a fighter’s integrity and his character.
“I work hard and I’m very passionate about the sport.
“For someone of his stature – like, come on, this is Eddie Hearn, this is one of the biggest promoters in the world – to put a narrative like that out there about me is quite distasteful. It’s malicious as well, and harmful.
“While he’s there probably having a little snigger with his mates, ‘Haha, we’re getting one over Ben,’ he’s messing up my image.
“I’m from a community where a lot of things are happening that are bad, the youth are a bit confused.
“I’m trying to not only go out there and achieve stuff in the sport for myself, but also to try and be some sort of role model and inspire the next generation that’s coming up.
“It’s deeper than him just having a little laugh, it’s messing up my image and it makes me look like I’m not practising what I preach.
“I work too hard, I’m too passionate about the sport. I could’ve done anything else, I didn’t have to box, I’ve got a bloody degree, but I chose boxing.
“I only just heard it yesterday and I’ll be honest I was fuming. It was very displeasing and I weren’t happy at all.”
Eddie Hearn appears to question Joshua Buatsi vs. Dan Azeez injury story before changing his mind on talkSPORT Drive
Asked if the remarks have seriously riled him, Azeez answered: “Yeah, it really has.
“Someone of his stature, this is Eddie, it’s gonna go out to the world.
“People are actually believing it, I’m not on social media that much, but you’ll see things like, ‘Oh yeah, we heard the show weren’t doing well and that’s why they had to cancel it.’
“It’s all BS, people are actually believing it and that’s so displeasing.
“He might not be doing it directly to me, trying to harm me, but he’s doing it indirectly to obviously try to get one over on a rival promoter.
“It’s just really poor man, it’s not going down well with me, I’m not really happy at all.”
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