20 March 2023 , 15:05
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Joshua Buatsi has insisted he left Eddie Hearn on "good terms" to sign for new promoter BOXXER.
British light-heavyweight Buatsi had guided into the upper echelons of the world rankings by promoter Hearn. It was expected that the Briton would next receive a shot at the world title against stablemate Dmitry Bivol, who recently defeated Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez to defend his crown.
However Buatsi rejected the offer, and after a year out of action, has since announced that he will be making the switch to BOXXER and Sky Sports. When discussing his move back to his original broadcaster, Buatsi criticised streaming service DAZN suggesting he wants to return to a mainstream audience with the move.
Hearn admitted he was disappointed with Buatsi's comments this weekend given their long-standing relationship which saw emerge as one of the country's brightest talents. And the 30-year-old does not expect there to be a legal battle over his future as he looks to begin his campaign under a new banner.
"For me everything was left on good terms," he told Mirror Fighting in an exclusive chat after announcing his departure. "I understood my contract very well, I understood and stuck by it. I kept quiet for such a long period, and of course there has been comments flying all over social media for months now.
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"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 avaialble from a third party and I took it.
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"I am not here to strategising and trying 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."
Buatsi has yet to fulfil his dream of becoming world champion but is considered to be on the cusp of doing so providing he selects the right route. There are several big domestic fights which could also emerge in the meantime including against stablemate Dan Azeez who is treading a similarly promising path.
With Buatsi's criticism clearly frustrating Hearn, the Brentwood-based promoter insisted that the contender was not to blame for the nature of his departure. He told Boxing Social : “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.
"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.”