Frank Warren remained “optimistic” yesterday that contracts for Tyson
Fury’s defence of the World Boxing Council heavyweight crown against
fellow British fighter Dillian Whyte will be signed in the next few
days. Warren also hit back at Eddie Hearn after the Matchroom boxing
promoter claimed he was not disappointed about losing the purse bid
for Fury’s clash with Whyte, even though Hearn tabled £24million,
insisting the rival bid was far too high and could “lose millions”.
Hearn’s bid was gazumped by Warren nine days ago, with a record purse
bid of £31m for the World Boxing Council heavyweight showdown, but
Hearn reckons his rivals – Warren and US promoter Bob Arum – paid too
much. Fury will earn 25m and Whyte 6m.
However, Warren countered at rival Hearn, telling The Sunday
Telegraph: “Who cares what Hearn says… he should be proud that he
held the world record for the highest purse bid… for about 20
seconds.” Warren also revealed to The Sunday Telegraph that Hearn’s
assertions this week that he is awaiting a contract for Whyte for his
fight with Fury was “nonsense”.
“We are not dealing with Hearn, we are dealing with Whyte’s lawyers,”
disclosed Warren, who added that there are multiple offers to host the
fight from around the world, although Cardiff’s Principality Stadium
or West Ham’s London Stadium and Wembley Stadium are in the running as
the big fight venue scheduled for late April. Hearn had claimed this week that Warren has paid over the odds for the
fight between Fury and Whyte and claims his rival could be at risk of
“losing millions”.
Speaking to The MMA Hour, Hearn had said: ‘We would have lost a lot of
money and [Fury] probably wouldn’t have taken the fight [at the price
we were willing to pay]. We don’t get on all the time; I do have a lot
of respect for him but you never know what you’re going to get. Of
course I’d like to have promoted the fight, but you have to put a
number which you’re prepared to lose. The minute you start acting on
ego is the minute you make a catastrophic error which could cost you
millions of dollars. I don’t play that game. I back our guys but to a point where we understand the
business. If you start going in with your d*** and you’re bidding £10m
over the number, and you finish the show and look at the bottom line
and you’ve done £5-£10m, well done… that’s great business! If we
didn’t turn up they would have saved millions of dollars as the only
bidder.”
Warren also told The Sunday Telegraph yesterday that he is
“optimistic” of getting Fury – currently in Dubai – and Whyte together
for a news conference next week. It is understood that a media tour is
planned to publicise Fury’s defence of the World Boxing Council
heavyweight crown. “The contracts are with the lawyers and we are
optimistic it will be finalised in the next few days,” said Warren.
“How can Whyte turn this down ? He has finally got his world title
shot after more than 1000 days and he is getting 2 million more than
his bidding promoter put up for him.”