The fallout has continued after influential fight promoter Eddie Hearn was forced to cancel a fight in the UK on the weekend due to irregular betting activity.
British rivals Aqib Fiaz and Kane Baker were due to face off in a super-featherweight rematch on the undercard of Tyler Denny vs Felix Cash in Birmingham on Saturday night.
But just hours before the bout was set to take place, Hearn was forced to pull both fighters from the card, without giving fans any information about the surprise call, saying the bout had been aborted due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
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Hearn later revealed the fight had been cancelled due to suspicious betting behaviour, but Baker has since made allegations he was offered a bribe at his hotel to throw the fight which forced his family to raise the alarm.
“This whole situation only got flagged when a member of my family contacted the other team to ask why there was bribes and money at my hotel,” Baker stated in his Instagram story.
“If I was betting against myself surely I would have gone ahead with the fight, I wouldn’t have allowed a family member to contact the opposition to stop the fight. The fight was never going ahead unless I agreed to take a dive and that’s the f—ing facts.
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“Team Fiaz did not want to fight me, and told me several times. And another thing, if I wanted to bet on myself I wouldn’t have a member of Team Fiaz flying round getting bets on. I’d get them on myself. Make it make sense.
“The fact Fiaz reckons he’s been told he can’t speak on the matter is pure bullshit because no-one has told me that I can’t speak. So enough bullshit ya pair of p—-s, you’ve admitted to your manager so find an asshole between you and tell the truth to the fans.”
Fiaz, the winner of the fight in 2020, said on social media in the aftermath of the cancellation: “Tonight’s fight was cancelled due to a situation I was unaware of and had no involvement in. There is an ongoing investigation. I have been advised to make no comments at this time.”
Hearn said he had not encountered such events during his time in the sport.
“Once I got the information I investigated it. I did that myself, I did that with my team, I did that with the Gambling Commission and I made the decision to pull the fight,” he told Boxing Social.
“When I did that I spoke to the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), I told them everything I had done and said I’m going to pull the fight. They agreed with me and now it will be over to them to carry out their own investigation.
“In 15 years I’ve never dealt with a situation like this. Pre-fight, two weeks out, 16 weeks before, never ever, it was a new one for me. It’s very disappointing.”