Trainer defends Daniel Dubois over 'quit' claims; Hearn says Warren rushed him
- par Rene Duval
- dans Sport
- — Déc 4, 2020
Daniel Dubois' trainer defended his fighter after he took a knee and conceded his fight with Joe Joyce on Saturday.
"Going into the 10th round I said we had three rounds left in the fight and one left in the eye", he said.
Dubois' opponent Joyce said: "He's good at giving a punch, but maybe not so good at taking a punch. His eye was completely closed", he said on the White & Jordan show.
"What do you want to see him do - lose his sight?"
"In this situation at the weekend you've got former boxers criticising Dubois for taking the knee when he had a fractured eye socket, the concept being you've got to be fearless, you've got to be a hero, you've got to fight on to the bitter end".
"It is what it is, he'll be out for a while until that heals and then obviously he comes back".
"In any other sport there would be outcry every time that someone is allowed to continue with a concussion and yet in boxing they're praised for doing so". His vision was also impaired.
"I think it will be very hard to come back from that but, at the end of the day, I think they rushed him. Only recently in the last few years Kell Brook has fought with two eye injuries as well".
Matchroom boss Hearn believes plenty of the blame lies at the feet of Queensbury Promotions head honcho Frank Warren.
"I thought it was a odd one, wasn't it", he posted to Instagram.
'I think it was about the fourth or fifth round I thought, "He don't fancy this". He went to the corner and the corner team were saying things like, "Come on! This is the fight game!" And I think they just knew he was mentally weak.
"I think you have to look at what the fighters are saying".
Criticism directed at Daniel Dubois for stopping his fight with Joe Joyce was "dangerous and irresponsible" according to brain injury charity Headway.
"But for normal people, I think you may have all looked to not carry on". But fighters are not normal people.
He said: 'I think it will be very hard to come back from that but, at the end of the day, I think they rushed him. I thought they matched Dubois really poorly coming through.
"Sam Jones was right; they never gave him that middle fight". He is seeing a specialist because he has a fractured eye socket.
"Do you know what, I always feel like it is hard for a non-fighter to say to a fighter he quit", he added.
