BOXXER Promoter Ben Shalom has fired back at Matchroom Boxing and CEO Frank Smith in particular, following repeated digs from the rival firm over recent weeks and months, labelling Smith as both ‘jealous and unprofessional’.
Shalom has been highly criticised by Smith and Matchroom for failing to agree to three fights that were ordered this year – Adam Azim vs. Dalton Smith, Caroline Dubois vs. Beatriz Ferreira and Isaac Chamberlain vs. Chev Clarke.
In response, Frank Smith gunned for the young promoter, claiming that he was wasting the time of Matchroom, the fans and the fighters, by waiting until the last minute to withdraw from purse bids.
However, Shalom told iFL TV that he believes Frank Smith’s dislike for him runs deeper than this, believing Hearn’s right-hand man to be jealous of his achievements thus far and the fact that he is his own boss.
“I think that it is quite bizarre to be honest. My friends have shown me that he [Frank Smith] has done over 100 videos talking about me over the last couple of years, I haven’t even said anything, I find it bizarre.
“I think that there is a little bit of jealousy [because] I am younger than him and I run my own business, but I also appreciate that he is under instruction. I wouldn’t have one of my staff coming after him but he is trying to cause a stir and make a bit of a name [for himself], but yeah it is bizarre and a little unprofessional. It’s not something that I do or was brought up to do.”
Despite his deal with Sky Sports, Shalom went on to admit that the newfound rivalry between BOXXER and Matchroom is testament to how far he and his team have come.
“For us, as a promotional company from where we started, to even be in the same breath of Matchroom and Queensberry, that is a special feeling.
“I used to go to Eddie Hearn’s shows six or seven years ago, so to be here now and to be having all of this – sometimes you have to step back and think ‘wow, we have come pretty far’.”
Shalom has since agreed separate deals for two of the three fighters that he pulled out of thepurse bids, as Azim takes on Harlem Eubank, whilst Chamberlain gears up to take on Poland’s Michael Cieslak for the European cruiserweight title, after utilising his position as mandatory challenger for the belt.
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