Frank Warren revealed financial disagreements as the key factor in halted Yarde-Buatsi fight negotiations
Fans are still waiting on an official announcement ahead of the eagerly anticipated matchup between Anthony Yarde and Joshua Buatsi.
The all-British clash has been touted for a summer showdown, but after weeks of talks, no further progress appears to have been made.
In an article published by Boxing News, Frank Warren, Yarde’s, long-time promoter revealed the cause of the holdup in the showdown’s proceedings.
“We as Queensberry have agreed terms with Boxxer and Joshua Buatsi’s management team and we are waiting to agree similar terms with Anthony and his manager Tunde Ajayi and his lawyer and we haven’t done that yet.
“The hold up is how the money is being split. For me, it’s a meaningful fight in a lot of ways and I think Anthony is the more popular boxer with the bigger name who has been in the bigger fights. However, Josh is No.1 with a couple of organisations so he brings that to the party – you’re fighting for that No.1 position.
“Anthony has had two warm-up fights to get himself back in the swing and now he’s got to be in a big fight but Tunde keeps talking about the money and has asked people to step up.
“But for me it’s really simple: go pay-per-view so it is worth what it’s worth. Pay-per-view determines your true worth as a fighter because the public will buy it or they won’t. They will buy a ticket, or they won’t. These are the splits, that’s what it is. They get an even split of the pot.”
The promoter encouraged the fighters to put their egos aside and agree to a fifty-fifty purse split.
“They both bring something to the table which is pretty much equal and even if one deserves 10 per cent more, it’s a load of bollocks because we just have to get the fight on now. Stop this nonsense. If you want the fight, get it done.”
Unfortunately, if terms can’t be agreed there is a real risk that the fight proceedings may fall flat. A possibility Warren was not afraid to admit.
“I’m going to be really callous here, we are in the business of putting on fights, we’ll put on fights so if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”