Reflections - You cannot, can you? Eddie Hearn and Ben Shalom agree on something!
Eddie Hearn and Ben Shalom agree!
As headlines go it caught my attention and I was instantly on the clicker to hear what momentous event had brought Eddie and Ben together in unification. Perhaps all the promotional belts were on the line and Zuffa Boxing were attempting to land a huge right hook on both their chins which brought them to a place of unity. Fighting the upstart from across the pond unites!
Perhaps the most shocking element of this was Eddie Hearn had actually spoken, like on the phone to Ben Shalom, I mean actual, which took me further aback.
Apparently, according to the man with such chutzpah, the advice that Hearn had given to Shalom was that he should not allow others like Zuffa to walk all over him. Go rogue, Ben, go rogue…
And so, within 24 hours of Chris Billam-Smith going into the ring in Bournemouth, BOXXER announced they were taking legal action against Zuffa. The core of the action was that Chris Billam-Smith had a contract where at least matching rights were available for BOXXER, which had not been given, and that Sam Hickey who was also fighting on the bill was still under contract.
At the end of the day, I don't know how slowly courts work anywhere in England, but I would have thought with the launching of that legal challenge that at least some kind of halt or worry over both fighters going into the ring would have led to a postponement or two. No?
As it stands as Ben Shalom said in his interview thankfully, we live in a country where you can't do those types of things. Well… I hate to say this Ben, but it looks as though you kind of can – cos they did.
Dana White has trampled all over the intricacies of boxing in the UK. When he was challenged about Eddie Hearn’s claim, he was a liar over promoting AJ/Fury – or is it Fury/AJ – he bit back. He asked people to point out when he lied. He challenged people to phone Eddie Hearn right now and ask Eddie Hearn where the venue for AJ/Fury was being held. He said he knew and perhaps Eddie didn’t. He even claimed that he negotiated the contracts.
If it is bluff, then that type of nonsense will work for a period of time. Unless of course it is true. And now mischief maker in chief Tyson Fury has suggested that him and Dana are going to be working together… Just to add to the intrigue, Pauli Malignaggi has suggested that Dane White lies and Golden Boy have started litigation because the fight with Ryan Garcia and Connor Benn as not included them so more legal niceties – Matchroom are also pursuant around the Benn transfer.
I have written in the past, and will no doubt do so in the future, about how legal action in the boxing realm seem to be ongoing and not getting to any kind of conclusion, leaving fans unsure whether or not these issues are real or just in the heads of egos. As promoters hope to evolve from where they are into bigger concerns, but then Boxxer announce they have signed with “The Global Home of Boxing” DAZN. No wonder Eddie was being nice – Shalom is his new roomie!
Hearn was even saying that Shalom puts on better cards than Dana White and Zuffa!
Shalom now has both the BBC and DAZN! With the smallest number of fighters of all the major promoters! For now, at least. However, as he has lost people like Billam-Smith, Sam Hickey and Ben Whittaker will his new deal help in holding on to the likes of the Congolese enigma that is Martin Bakole as he now has the chance to build back into the rivalry with Queensberry and Matchroom?
Suddenly BOXXER is back and important. They have Adam Azim, Lauren Price, Gradus Kraus from the Netherlands, Callum Simpson, Frazer Clarke and Richard Riakporhe, as well as a deal, maybe, with Chris Eubank Jr. not a bad starting point.
Right now, though, his biggest fight might be with Zuffa. I for one hope that what he gets either some kind of recompense or we see what happened between him and Sky exposed. It is important that the vagaries of boxing are out into the open so that fans understand why it is that the big fights don't get made. If Boxxer can achieve that and prove itself then Shalom can really make a difference in British boxing.
