FRANK Warren and Chris Eubank Jr are going head-to-head in a court fight after the boxer branded the promoter a “scumbag”.
Warren is suing Eubank Jr for slander and libel over comments made at a press conference in Saudi Arabia last year.
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The boxer, who was taking part in an undercard fight with Poland‘s Kamil Szeremeta, was asked why he had signed with promoter Boxxer.
He responded: “Why Boxxer? Because every other promoter out here is a scumbag, that’s why.
“You know, you’ve got Frank Warren behind me, been lying and cheating his way through boxing for the last couple decades.
“Sued me for a couple hundred thousand a few years ago, so obviously I was never going to go with him. You know, the guy’s a scumbag.”
Boxxer later released statements from Eubank Jr – son of legend Chris Eubank – after he also lashed out at other promoters.
The boxer said he wished to “retract my inaccurate statements” and “offer my apologies” to Warren.
In return, Warren said: “I accept Chris’s apology and retraction. I too have said things before and apologise to him also if any criticism of him has upset him in the case.”
But the Queensbury promoter launched the legal action, which has now reached the High Court in London.
His barrister Richard Munden said Eubank Jr’s comments suggested “serious wrongdoing”.
He said: “Accusing someone of lying and cheating their way through their profession over the last two decades is about as strong and direct a slur as can be imagined.”
But Victoria Jolliffe, for Eubank Jr, said that Warren’s case had taken a “simple sentence” and had turned it into a “complex, tautological allegation”.
She told the court: “The ordinary reasonable listener or viewer… would understand that Mr Eubank was speaking in plain language at an event where it is commonplace for combative but entertaining verbal blows to be traded.”
Mr Justice Jay has been asked to decide the “natural and ordinary” meaning of the statements ahead of a potential trial.
But he instead urged both parties to come to an agreement away from court.
The judge explained: “Our primary function is to determine disputes, so if you don’t want to mediate, fair enough, you are entitled to a trial.
“But I would have thought this type of case is capable of being mediated.”
Warren, 73, has promoted several major British boxers over his career, including Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, Amir Khan and Tyson Fury.
He first sued the then British Middleweight champion in 2016 for a breach of contract – ending in Eubank Jr paying a six-figure sum to the promoter.
Eubank Jr, 35, who has won 34 of his 37 fights but has never won a major world title, is set to fight Conor Benn at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 26.
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