Eddie Hearn has hit out at Bob Arum for threatening the fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
The Matchroom promoter was on DAZN’s Ak & Barak Show to discuss the biggest stories in boxing and was questioned about Arum’s warnings not to take part in a purse bid for George Kambosos Jr. vs Teofimo Lopez.
Lopez is now at odds with his promoters Top Rank, putting his relationship and contract with the company in jeopardy, and his fight against his Australian mandatory will now be broadcast on Triller.
Hearn criticised Arum for failing to adapt to modern boxing, saying: “What this comes down to is an old school mentality that doesn’t exist in boxing anymore.
“Back in the day, where Bob Arum was in his prime, when Don King was operating, even my dad was in that era. The fighters worked for the promoters, and their opinion was they were like bosses.
“You’ve got all these fighters, the game’s changed. They’re putting their health and life on the line.”
He explained that he believes the relationship between promoter and fighter has shifted, with the power now resting with the athletes rather than their representatives.
“They are my bosses. I work for them,” he said.
“If you say to Bob Arum, is Teofimo Lopez your boss, can you imagine?
“We work for the fighters, I work for the fighters. That's just how it is.”
Hearn then criticised Arum for suggesting that the Joshua-Fury fight could be put in doubt by any DAZN bid for the Lopez-Kambsos event, but did not credit the threats as genuine.
“That’s just toxic, that you can let the biggest fight in the world fall through because you’re not happy about another fight that went to a purse bid. It’s pathetic, quite frankly,” Hearn said.
“Bob’s completely lost his mind because he doesn’t care anymore.
“You’ve got to respect it, he’s speaking his 100% truth from his heart. Now he’s 89, 90, and he doesn’t care.
“His relationships with his fighters are getting worse and worse and worse. And the Top Rank fighters are going, 'Wow, he doesn’t care about us anymore.'
“I don’t think it will affect Fury vs. Joshua, by the way.”