Eddie Hearn ‘disappointed’ by Joshua Buatsi split after Brit rejected £1m to fight Dmitry Bivol
- Lewis Oldham
- 20 March 2023
Eddie Hearn admitted he is “disappointed” that Joshua Buatsi has decided to leave Matchroom Boxing and return to Sky Sports.
It was announced last week that the undefeated light-heavyweight has signed a multi-fight deal with Sky Sports/BOXXER.
His first fight with his new promoters will be as a headliner at Birmingham's Resorts World Arena on May 6.
Buatsi has since claimed that he left Matchroom as more eyes are on Sky Sports than DAZN.
Despite this, he has indicated that he has parted ways with Hearn "on good terms".
"For me, everything was left on good terms," Buatsi told Mirror Fighting.
"I understood my contract very well, I understood and stuck by it. I kept quiet for such a long period, and of course, there have been comments flying all over social media for months now.
"But now I feel it is a great opportunity to address these things that I felt were quite important.
"From my side, my time is up with the previous promoters and they did a good job with me. I just got to a point where I felt I needed to make a change, this offer was available from a third party and I took it.
"I am not here to strategize and try to take over or anything. I am solely concerned about what is good for Joshua Buatsi and where I should be and what benefits me. I think being here with BOXXER and Sky Sports is the right move for me at this time in my career and that is my decision."
Joshua Buatsi on why he decided to sign with Sky Sports & BOXXER ✍️🥊 pic.twitter.com/Xg7maDahH3
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) March 15, 2023
Before leaving Matchroom, Buatsi was offered a big-money deal to challenge Dmitry Bivol for his WBA (Super) world title.
The Brit decided to turn down this deal. Instead, he is likely to pursue a fight with European champion Dan Azeez, who is also contracted to Sky Sports/BOXXER.
Hearn has insisted that he "did a great job" with Buatsi while they worked together.
"Disappointed, really. I've always had a great relationship with him. I've done a great job - took him from British to European, to world number one," Hearn told Boxing Social.
"Walked him into well over a million-pound payday to fight Dmitry Bivol and he didn't want it.
"He's boxed on Sky his whole career other than two fights. Yeah, just saw a young man up there that's been fed a load of bull***t and told what to say. It was quite out of character for him really, but honestly, I wish him all the best."
