Frank Warren has responded to Eddie Hearn taking offense at his criticism of light heavyweight hopeful Ben Whittaker.
Whittaker was out earlier this month and looked good for the majority of the fight. He was heading for what looked to be a straightforward points win against Conor Wallace but then got caught with a few rounds to go and had to get through some rocky patches to see out the unanimous points win.
Once again his showboating and flashiness in the ring was called into question, especially as he was expected to go on to challenge unified world champion Dimitry Bivol in his next fight, should Bivol successfully defend his straps against Callum Smith in December.
That led Warren to claim that anybody who made the Whittaker vs. Bivol fight should be reported to the NSPCC, with Hearn not best pleased about those comments.
Speaking to talkSPORT Boxing, Warren said he understands why Hearn wasn’t happy.
“I get where Eddie is coming from, and I understand where Eddie is coming from, but Ben was telling Eddie, and he was telling everybody, that he came to see me before he signed with Eddie and I put a big offer in for him, but I didn’t.
“I’m not being an after-the-fact timer. I’m not always right; I get it wrong, but I’ve got to tell you, he doesn’t learn from that fight, and he goes in with Bivol, he will have a problem. But hopefully he won’t, I like him to do well; he’s a British fighter. Please, God, he does well, and he does the business.”
Hearn has admitted that Whittaker does in fact need another fight before stepping up to take on Bivol, and suggested that a rematch with Wallace could be on the cards.
