Eddie Hearn admits he’ll “never forget” when Andre Ward opted against penalising Paul Smith Jr for missing weight before their fight in 2015.
Smith, who was promoted by Hearn, came in 4.4lbs over the 172-pound catchweight limit for their showdown in Oakland, while Ward comfortably made the weight at 171.8lbs.
At the time, Ward branded the Liverpool man as unprofessional and insisted his team would be talking to the commission to work out a deal.
“Right now my team has work to do with the commission and with Paul’s team,” Ward told Sky Sports News at the time.
“We’re just not going to be okay with that.
“I did my part to make my weight like a professional.
“If he struggled that much with the weight he should have alerted us a long time ago.
“There could have been a change in the weight. If you wait until the last minute and then get on the scales – it’s not a good look.”
Hearn negotiated a deal with Ward’s management team, Roc Nation Sports for his client to pay the American $125,000 as a penalty.
However, after securing a ninth round TKO win in his hometown, Hearn has revealed that the former undefeated, pound-for-pound great made a U-turn and opted against charging ‘Smigga’, a move the Matchroom chairman says he will always remember.
“The deal that I did with Jay [Jay-Z] was that he had to pay you about $125,000 extra for missing weight,” the 45-year-old said on All The Smoke Fight.
“And you came up to me and you said, ‘is he a good guy?’
“And I said, ‘yeah, he’s a great guy.’
“You said, ‘does he have a family?’
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“I said, ‘yeah, they’re all here.’
“You said, ‘tell him to keep the $125,000.’
“And I’ll never forget that about you.
“That was a very nice touch.”
