Eddie Hearn: “Sometimes Bob Arum Lives in a Bubble”
Matchroom Boxing CEO Eddie Hearn has been on record that his fighter, WBC Mandatory Heavyweight challenger Dillian Whyte, deserves and is long overdue a shot at the WBC heavyweight strap currently held by Tyson Fury.
But here’s the rub; it’s been difficult, to say the least for the 32-year-old mandatory challenger from the Brixton section of London, England to get a crack at the belt, in spite of the WBC’s ruling he is due to fight the winner of the upcoming third fight between Fury and former WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder by February 2021.
As a result, not only has Hearn, as well as Whyte’s lawyers, written a formal letter demanding the WBC to uphold their end of the bargain, Whyte and his representation have officially filed suit against the sanctioning body.
Why are Hearn and Whyte taking these measures, you ask, in spite of the WBC mandating that Whyte is due to fight the winner of Fury – Wilder III?
This is due to Arum dismissing Whyte’s worth and is working behind the scenes to petition the WBC to push back Fury’s mandatory defense as a result of the January 10th announcement that Fury and Joshua have come to a financial agreement to a two-fight deal in 2021.
TAKING SHOTS AT ARUM
Hearn is adamant Whyte gets his shot at the WBC title by the February 2021 date. He took offense to recent comments by the Top Rank boss, who valued Whyte no higher than former Fury-opponent Tom Schwarz. By many accounts, Schwarz is a C-level fighter at best.
During a virtual interview with Michael Bridge of Sky Sports, Hearn took offense to Arum’s dismissive comments.
“Bob Arum sometimes lives in his bubble in Las Vegas and California. I don’t think he recognizes what’s going on around the world. His world is America, and we have to understand there is another world out there.
And that world of the heavyweight landscape, when you talk about the top fighters in heavyweight boxing, Dillian Whyte should be and is in everyone’s conversation.
This is a guy who for years has boxed WBC sanctioned events, boxed eliminators, boxed final eliminators, boxed interim world title fights, he has been ranked number one for god knows how many days; he deserves his shot.
For Bob Arum to say Dillian Whyte has the same commercial value as Tom Schwarz is ridiculous. Tyson Fury versus Dillian Whyte is a monstrous fight, and it’s very disrespectful to say that it’s in the same league as Tom Schwarz.”
Hearn went on to note that Schwarz barely squeezed into the rankings when he fought Fury. He went on to say that pressure is being put to bear to ensure Whyte gets his long-overdue world title opportunity.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
