Retour
Frank Warren has given his view on the breakdown of the relationship between Shakur Stevenson and Zuffa Boxing.
Warren has been a promoter for more than 40 years so he has seen it all in the sport. He has worked with stars like Mike Tyson, Ricky Hatton and Tyson Fury, and it hasn’t always been plain sailing, with more than one dispute between him and his fighters over the years.
UFC mogul Dana White is now experiencing the same having made his move into boxing when he founded Zuffa and started signing fighters to put on his own shows.
He has acquired the likes of Conor Benn, Jai Opetaia and Edgar Belanga, but news broke this week that he will no longer be promoting multi-weight world champion Stevenson going forward after the American requested his release from the promotion without fighting.
Speaking to iFL TV, Warren explained that relationships with fighters are not always rosy, but that’s life.
“Do you know what, if it’s not working, it’s not working if that’s what they decided.
“I’ve been involved with fighters over the years who’ve I like working with and fighters involved with me I don’t like working with and there’s fighters who don’t like working with me and I’m sure there’s times where you think I wish I’d never done that.
“I don’t suppose they had to do that but they chose to do that with Zuffa and that’s it, and Stevenson will get on with his career.”
Having previously said he would be happy to fight Benn at welterweight, Stevenson was in talks to fight WBO welterweight champion Devin Haney but those discussions seem to have broken down and he has grown frustrated with being in the sidelines rather than competing to become a five-weight world champion.