After recent statements from Bob Arum, who ruled out the possibility of the Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue facing Murodjon Akhmadaliev as his next opponent because “nobody knows him,” the renowned English promoter Eddie Hearn, who as head of Matchroom manages the interests of the Uzbek fighter, made rather harsh statements to the press against his colleague who intends to organize a fight between Inoue and the Irishman TJ Doheny in September:
“What drives me mental about Bob Arum is he’s a liar. ‘I’ve never heard of Akhmadaliev,’ come on. The only competitive fight in the division for Inoue is Akhmadaliev. So I’m appealing to Bob Arum, Mr Honda, Inoue – don’t give us a mismatch. I’m sorry, Inoue vs Doheny is a horrendous mismatch. Don’t f***ing lie to us. And to fight fans – rather than just praising Inoue, who’s an amazing fighter, don’t take this bulls***. Akhmadaliev has got a better chance than anybody and he’ll give you a great fight.”
The name of Doheny has indeed puzzled many enthusiasts: the Irishman living in Australia has already suffered four defeats in his professional career and will turn 38 in a few months. We’ll see if Bob Arum will be influenced by Hearn’s harsh words or if, as usual, he will proceed straight ahead.