EDDIE HEARN has accused Dillian Whyte’s critics of forgetting that Tyson Fury missed a press conference for his proposed rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.
Whyte has been copping flack for opting to snub his pre-fight presser with The Gypsy King ten days ago to continue his gruelling Portugal training camp.
Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte will collide in an April 23 domestic dust-up at WembleyCredit: TOP RANKWhyte snubbed his first pre-fight presser with Fury earlier this monthCredit: GETTYBut Eddie Hearn has accused the Gypsy King of having double standardsCredit: GETTY
Fury and his fans bashed the Brixton banger for his absence, which Hearn believes is rich considering the defending WBC heavyweight champ went AWOL for his pre-fight clash with Klitschko in September 2016.
The Matchroom Boxing chief told iFL TV: “Everyone is very, very quick to forget that Tyson Fury didn’t turn up the Wladimir Klitschko press conference.”
When it was put to Hearn that Fury may have been going through some mental health problems at the time, he replied: “He chose not to turn up.
“He’s still at fault, he chose not to turn up to the press conference. So what’s the difference?
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“It was for a fight and he chose not to [attend]. He said that his car broke down on the way down. It didn’t.”
Veteran promoter Hearn was quick not to make light of Fury’s well-documented struggles with his mental health.
He continued: “You don’t know what anyone is going through. But it’s one rule for one, one rule for the other.
“At the end of the day, Tyson Fury didn’t turn up to the Wladimir Klitschko press conference, Dillian Whyte didn’t turn up to the Tyson Fury press conference.
Tyson Fury missed a press conference for his rematch with Wladimir KlitschkoCredit: EPA
“Let’s hope everything gets resolved and let’s hope they get in the ring.”
Whyte has maintained radio silence over the last few weeks, which prompted Hearn to explain why he missed the presser.
He told Fight Hub TV: “I saw Tyson Fury say, ‘I told him not to go to the press conference’ — absolute rubbish.
“There’s still a lot of stuff that’s still to be resolved, that he hasn’t had answers for. I don’t want to go into it too much but, you know, tickets for the fight, escrow for the money, he wanted a plane to bring him in, he didn’t want to just go on a low budget airline because Covid still exists.
“Some people want to buy Rolls Royces but they can’t afford the petrol. And this is a problem.
“If you want to spend $42 million on a fight, are you going to bring in a guy from Portugal and you want to put him on an airline? There’s other stuff, they don’t want to give him tickets for the fight.
“So under a purse bid agreement there’s things he does and doesn’t have to do, like it’s not a commercial agreement as per normal. So it’s his own decision.
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“If they wanted him there they could’ve had him there, but sort of really didn’t make the effort to treat him in the appropriate manner, in my opinion.”
Former sparring partners Fury and Whyte, both 33, will clash in an eagerly-anticipated domestic dust-up at Wembley Stadium on April 23.
