Matchroom CEO Fires Back At Ben Shalom Over Frazer Clarke Comments

Kristan Caryl
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Matchroom CEO Fires Back At Ben Shalom Over Frazer Clarke Comments

Matchroom CEO Frank Smith has continued the war of words with rival promoter Boxxer’s Ben Shalom over his comments on Frazer Clarke.

Clarke and Wardley were involved in a fight-of-the-year contender last weekend for the British heavyweight title. The match was ruled a draw after plenty of even back and forth.

It was a long time coming after Clarke was originally pulled out of purse bids for the fight last year after Matchroom planned to bid, as Shalom claimed his man was not ready.

This week he has reacted to comments from Eddie Hearn and denied he pulled Clarke out of the fight because of a dispute over what platform it would be shown on.

Speaking to Boxing Social, Matchroom’s Smith was asked about Shalom’s comments.

“Of course, he’d say that. Of course, he’d say that coming off the back of the weekend. It was a great fight. Frazer Clarke, whether he had one or two extra fights, he’s an experienced fighter who has been in there with some of the best in the world both in sparring and the amateurs over the last two years.

“Saying he did the best for his fighter, I don’t think his fighter was too happy at the time that he got pulled out of a purse big that would have made him life changing money. That decision wasn’t made to give Frazer Clarke a better chance to win the fight.

“Just be honest, it was about Boxxer and Sky. I know people who know Frazer Clarke, I know Frazer Clarke very well, he wanted that fight.”

Many people want to see a rematch between Clarke and Wardley and one of the men has since come out to give their view on that.

Kristan has been writing about music and sport for 20 years. He’s done cover features for the most influential music magazines on the planet, written books about the world’s top DJs and most celebrated clubs, interviewed footballing heroes and profiled Tour de France legends. He joined Boxing Social in the summer of 2023 as a news and feature writer.

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