Eddie Hearn has responded to Joshua Buatsi’s criticism of his offer to fight Dmitry Bivol and DAZN’s view count.
The undefeated light heavyweight has left Hearn’s Matchroom this week an agreement with BOXXER and Sky Sports.
Buatsi cites a desire to appear on Sky rather than something ‘people have to download and enter their email address’ for – learn about DAZN, Matchroom’s exclusive worldwide broadcasting partner available through one app.
The promoter told Boxing Social that he was disappointed by the comments and support of his work during their time together.
“Disappointed, really. I’ve always had a great relationship with him. I did a great job – brought him from England, Europe, to number one in the world. Take him to a date that pays over a million pounds to fight Dmitry Bivol and he doesn’t want it.
He then took issue with aired comments claiming that Buatsi had “boxed Sky his whole career”, implying that it was not the groundbreaking partnership that the boxer or the house advertising can be considered as such.
Hearn believes it’s what ‘JB’ has been sold for rather than what he believes.
“He has boxed on Sky his entire career beyond two fights. Yeah, just saw a young man up there being fed a bunch of bulls and told what to say. It’s actually quite unusual for him, but honestly, I wish him all the best.”
The advertiser then confirms that his company exercises the appropriate rights to Buatsi’s contract – the right to review an offer from a rival advertiser and have an equivalent offer option – and says ‘we’ll see what happens’ on whatever action is taken next.
Of course, following Buatsi’s criticism of DAZN, the streaming service announced a linear channel on Sky to better reach people who don’t want to use the app.
