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Frank Warren labels rival promoter 'Inspector Clueless' over Fabio Wardley gloves row

Ash Rose
Frank Warren labels rival promoter 'Inspector Clueless' over Fabio Wardley gloves rowMark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing
The promoter hits out over claims over Fabio Wardley's gloves

Frank Warren has slammed Ben Shalom over his claims questioning Fabio Wardley's gloves in his win over Frazer Clarke, labelling him a 'complete and utter idiot'. 

Wardley was victorious in Riyadh last weekend after a first-round knockout of Clarke that saw the fighter needing surgery following the brutal early blow. 

However, in the aftermath of the fight, Clarke's promoter Shalom has raised questions over the legitimacy of Wardley's customised Fly gloves, admitting the camp had concerns over them both before and after the bout. 

Shalom told BetFred, "It’s something we’re looking very carefully at with our team, not just for big Frazer’s sake, but the fact that these customised gloves are being introduced, you have to look into it and see how they’re different.

"It’s an ongoing process, but during the week we were warned repeatedly by Frazer’s team about what gloves could be used. It’s no excuse, Frazer lost the fight fair and square, but it’s the damage that they could cause and that’ll have to be looked at."

In the wake of these claims, Frank Warren spoke to talkSPORT and rubbished Shalom's accusations, claiming he has no grounds for an investigation and highlighted the stupidity of his comments. 

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He said: “First of all, I am the promoter of that event. It was a British Boxing Board of Control event. It was me, the licensed promoter. So what he’s saying is that the gloves were not correct. That’s what he’s alleging. And that is libellous.

"The manufacturers of the gloves, I’m sure they’re going to take that up with him. I know for a fact they will take it up with him because the guy who runs that company, is a nice young fellow,  entrepreneurial, built business from scratch.

"And what he’s saying is totally out of order and wrong. And as to say it’s an investigation, you heard what the Board of Control said. How is he investigating anything? He doesn’t even have the gloves.

"I mean, what is he, Clouseau? Does he think he’s Inspector Clouseau? Or, in his case, Inspector Clueless? I mean, the man’s a complete and utter idiot to even be going down this road.

"It’s a poor excuse for what was a legitimate win. And I’m sure that Fabio wore those gloves in his previous fight. And the irony of all this is I understand tomorrow night, Azim is fighting, Adam Azim is fighting on his bill, wears fly gloves. What planet is this guy on?”

Warren went one step further and warned Shalom that his accusations could land him in hot water with the boxing board of control down to having no real substance to go on, "I think he's got a problem. I think the boxing board of control were calling for bringing the sport into disrepute because, again, it looks like something crooked is going on with what he's saying. And it's totally untrue.

"It's like saying the referee was crooked in a football match. No one wants to hear things like this. And especially with boxing, we get loads and loads of crap all the time.

"Sometimes it's self-inflicted. But this is totally baseless and untrue.

"And the ridiculous comments he makes, as I said earlier, about it as an investigation. What investigation? He hasn't even got the gloves." 

The row is the latest clash between Warren and Shalom, who were seen in a shoving match on stage during events in Riyadh.

But Warren has quashed claims it is because he is upset at what is seen as Shalom trying to muscle in on his and Eddie Hearn's relationship and domination of the promotion world.

He also lambasted Shalom for caring more about photos than his fighter and his concerns. 

Adding: "They isn't just three promoters. There were 12 different promoters that had fighters on the shows. 

"The pushing and shoving on the stage is because Shalom, instead of the concerns that he had about the gloves and attending meetings and more being worried about his fighter, if that's what he's saying was the case before the fight, which is what I'd be doing.

"He was more interested in driving everybody mad about where he was going to stand and what photographs he was going to be in." 

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