Bob Arum says Eddie Hearn “sabotaged” a prospective all-British heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, accusing the Matchroom promoter of “slow-playing” negotiations and being opposed to the fight since the beginning.
Fury twice took to social media last week to set Joshua and his team a deadline by which to sign a contract agreeing to the December 3 bout, to which the 32-year-old replied by underlining his intent to sign the deal while explaining it was in the hands of his lawyers given the finer details in play.
On Monday Hearn admitted negotiations had broken down and that, while being open to further discussions, the fight was off “as far as we’re concerned”.
But Arum has told Sky Sports it was Hearn who “killed this fight”.
“He wanted to kill it because even as late as yesterday [Monday], if he’d have said let’s all get together and sit in a room and get everything finalised, it could have been done in a couple of hours,” Arum said.