Artur Beterbiev Takes Aim At Promoter Eddie Hearn

Artur Beterbiev took aim at promoter Eddie Hearn at the final press conference ahead of his fight against Dmitry Bivol.

During the press conference, someone asked Hearn about why he referred to Beterbiev as arrogant.

“Did I say that? I can’t remember,” Hearn joked (via BadLeftHook). “I think he is arrogant, I think all fighters are arrogant. I think you have to be arrogant. But it was more of a frustration to make sure the world is aware of what this fight is and what it means. Because as stone cold as Artur Beterbiev is, and as stone cold at Dmitry Bivol is, there’s still that young boy that found boxing, that changed their life through boxing, that had a dream to win every belt in the sport.

“And sometimes one-word answers don’t always tell me the pure emotion and meaning of what victory would do for them on Saturday night. Artur Beterbiev is one of the greatest fighters of our generation, and [Bivol] is one of the purest boxers I’ve ever seen,” Hearn added.

After Eddie Hearn’s comments, Artur Beterbiev got the mic and fired back at Hearn as the two got into a back-and-forth.

“You want to make fight with Eddie?,” Beterbiev asked. “Why you do that? It really can be. It really can be, I can do something, you know?”

Don’t worry about me,” Hearn responded, “you have to get through him first. When [Bivol’s] finished with you, it’ll be easier for me.”

“No need finish with him,” Beterbiev would say. “I finish with [Bivol] tomorrow. But you, today, maybe. Maybe today with you.”

It was a surprise to see Beterbiev take aim at Hearn, but obviously the boxer wasn’t pleased with Hearn’s comments about him being arrogant.

Beterbiev enters his fight with a record of 20-0 as a pro and coming off a TKO win over Callum Smith.