EDDIE HEARN would be left ‘absolutely astonished’ if Tyson Fury’s fight with Dillian Whyte has no British judges.
It comes after Fury and his promoter Frank Warren called for NO home officials to score the heavyweight title fight on April 23 at Wembley.
Eddie Hearn would ‘absolutely astonished’ if Tyson Fury’s fight with Dillian Whyte has no British judges
The two were left shocked after Jack Catterall, 38, was controversially beaten by Josh Taylor, 31, in Scotland via a questionable split-decision verdict.
But Hearn has admitted the British Boxing Board of Control and General Secretary Robert Smith will likely demand home officials.
He told iFL TV: “It’s never down to the promotional company, it’s something that’s very important for people to know.
“I would be absolutely astonished if the British Boxing Board of Control allowed that fight to go ahead with no British judges.
“Also for them it’s kind of like an admission of guilt and defeat if so.
“And in fact Robert Smith has nearly forced fights to fall through because of his stubbornness for making sure that the British Boxing Board of Control are represented.
“And you know what? I make Robert Smith right. I remember Klitschko against Joshua was neutral judges and it took argument after argument after argument.
He continued: “The British Boxing Board of Control will always insist on one British ref and one British judge in an international fight of magnitude.
“But this is two Brits. So I’d be absolutely astonished… it doesn’t have to be British across the board.
“But I think Robert Smith would insist on a British ref and a British judge. And do you know what? I actually agree with him.”
Fury, 33, does not currently hold a BBoBC licence having competed for the last four years and five fights Stateside.
So he will return against Whyte, 33, for his UK homecoming on a foreign boxer’s license and wanted no British judges score the fight.
He told talkSPORT: “I’ve seen an article recently where Frank Warren said there would be no British judges for this fight and I reiterate that as well.
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“Those words echo around my training camp. We don’t want British judges for this fight.
“We want proper, experienced, judges who will do the right thing. If Dillian Whyte beats me, give him the decision.
“Do not try and rob anybody of this fight, give the man the decision, give the man what he deserves.
“If I win, do the same for me. In boxing, these fighters don’t want any gifts, they don’t want robbery decisions.
“People want to win if they win, and lose if they lose. In the game, we’ve seen so many boxing decisions go the opposite way and I’m just thinking ‘what are they watching’.
“As for the fight that happened the other night, both fighters tried their best and done what they could do best.
“It’s not for me to say who won or lost, because I know both guys, but it was a good fight, I watched it and it was a great fight for the fans.
“Both fighters did their best.”
Frank Warren and Tyson Fury want no British judges scoring the Wembley fight
