‘Go on Frank’ – Eddie Hearn surprisingly backs Frank Warren in Adam Catterall clash and refuses to condemn rival promoter

Eddie Hearn has unexpectedly backed his rival promoter Frank Warren over his recent viral clash with Adam Catterall.

The talkSPORT host was berated by the Queensberry boxing boss at an event on Saturday night as they discussed Catterall's criticisms of the heavyweight division and particularly Tyson Fury's career direction in recent times.

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Catterall had branded Fury's bouts preceding his upcoming clash with Oleksandr Usyk as 'warm lager' and Warren was furious with his comments, telling him to 'stop talking b****cks' about the delay in making the undisputed fight.

Hearn has been a long-time rival of Warren's, but the pair properly met in person for the first time last week as they shared a press conference for Saudi Arabia's big heavyweight event in December, which features Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.

As a result, the cold war that has existed between Hearn and Warren for several years is appearing to thaw ever so slightly.

And when asked about Warren's verbal assault on Catterall, Hearn told talkSPORT Drive: "I don't know what happened last week because I found myself watching a Frank Warren interview on Saturday going, 'Go on Frank!'

"I don't always agree with what Adam Catterall says, I've had a few choice words with him.

"I sent him a message once and we had a good chat talking about his comments on Conor Benn.

"I feel like, watching that debate between those two - Adam had a chance to say a lot of things.

"Because I think Frank was talking about, 'What else was Tyson supposed to do?'

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"And I think Adam was talking about the frustration of him fighting Dillian Whyte, then particularly Derek Chisora, and then having all that time out before he reached Francis Ngannou which at the time was a mismatch.

"There was a period probably where the Oleksandr Usyk fight could've happened sooner, but when you look at the way it's been delivered in terms of the finances and everything, you can't really knock the move.

"And Ngannou ended up being an interesting fight."

It was then suggested that Catterall may have been unfairly ambushed by Warren.

However, Hearn said: "I think Frank was being interviewed and he said, 'Come over here.'

"You see Adam Catterall kinda say, 'Look, don't film this, let's have a chat.'

"But unfortunately I think everything's being filmed these days."

Asked if he believes the way Catterall was approached was wrong, Hearn insisted: "Not from what I've seen. Adam didn't have to come into the interview.

"But also, if you want to have those opinions, you should be prepared and you should be equipped enough to have a debate on the spot about it in my opinion.

"It wasn't a violent interview or anything, it was some guy that was very passionate about comments that had been made.

"If you felt that strongly about your own comments, you should be able to give enough substance to live debate them on the spot...

"Frank was on one and I think Adam missed an opportunity to get his actual point across."