Former WBC cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew has put a recently announced bout on blast, labelling it as a the ‘fight that nobody wants’, after an alternative, more intriguing clash was avoided.
Bellew was referring to Adam Azim and his promoter, Ben Shalom, who have come under fire recently for failing to fight Dalton Smith, after the two Brits were ordered to fight.
Whilst Shalom claimed he and his fighter were interested in the contest, both Smith and Eddie Hearn consistently applied pressure on him to either step aside or make the fight, until it was confirmed that Azim would instead take on Harlem Eubank.
The announcement of Azim-Eubank has been met with some criticism, with fans and fighters alike labelling it as a ‘duck’ from both Azim and Shalom, who maintains his belief that Azim would defeat Smith but admits he would be more confident in a few fights’ time.
On social media, Bellew reacted to the face-off between Azim and Eubank during the Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke card, which all but confirmed that the Dalton Smith fight was off of the table.
“Was never gonna happen!! Instead we get the fight that was expected and no one wants…”
Azim has now officially vacated the EBU title in order to pursue to match-up with Harlem Eubank, although despite the announcement, it has recently emerged that the showdown is not yet signed, with some claims that Eubank could now use that to his advantage.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Smith will target the vacant EBU title or instead continue to fight at world level, after his impressive knockout win over Jose Zepeda.