Eddie Hearn has fired back at Lawrence Okolie this week, after ‘The Sauce’ claimed that Hearn was “jealous” in a recent interview.
After a tumultuous twelve months, Okolie is finally back in the ring this weekend as he defends his WBO cruiserweight world title against mandatory challenger David Light, in what will be his first fight under the BOXXER banner.
Speaking on TalkSPORT ahead of the bout, Okolie did not hold back in his assessment of his former promoter.
“Me and him [Hearn] have chats because we have an ongoing situation behind the scenes that maybe I am not allowed to talk too much on.”
“But the way he acts personally is very different. He’s very malicious, bitter, jealous as well.”
“And for someone who has been brought up in such a great position and has done so much in terms of his own life, the way he acts on a personal level is very vindictive.”
Never one to miss a chance to bite back, Hearn told RiKo Boxing he was confused by the comments, particularly the accusation that he was jealous.
“It’s one of the few times I get positive comments, when Lawrence Okolie says something negative about me… I don’t really understand the personal insults. When he says I’m jealous – of what? Jealous of Lawrence Okolie?”
Hearn promoted Okolie from his professional debut right up until his most recent outing against Michal Cieslak at the 02 Arena last year.
Although the 30 year old is only currently working with BOXXER as they won the purse bids for his fight this weekend, a long term agreement is expected to be announced in the not too distant future.