Frank Smith questions why Dana White set a Fury vs Joshua press conference he "couldn't make"

The Matchroom chief executive also called Zuffa Boxing's first year "uninspiring", despite what he says is a $100 million a year Paramount deal.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Thu 1 Oct, 14:52 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Matchroom Boxing chief executive Frank Smith says he does not understand why Dana White set the date of the Fury vs Joshua press conference when he could not be there.

White missed Wednesday's launch press conference at Olympia in London. Asked by The Stomping Ground about the clash with White's Contender Series, Smith said: "You wouldn't think this guy's worth about £700 million and has a private jet and just flew in for Zuffa Boxing with a 2,000 crowd but missed the biggest show that he's promoting. I don't understand why he'd organise the press conference for that day if he couldn't make it as the promoter."

White, Smith added, "won't get pressed about it until he comes back in November". Turki Alalshikh, whose The Ring is promoting the fight, thanked "my brother who's suddenly not here today, Dana White" from the audience at Olympia. More from the day is in our press conference coverage.

Smith was also critical of Zuffa Boxing's first year. "It's the biggest combat sports business in the world with a $40 billion valuation, with a $100 million a year rights fee deal from Paramount and probably another $10 million rights fee deal from Sky Sports. It's not some two-bit organisation... It should be sensational, shouldn't it? But for me, it's been uninspiring," he said.

He said Matchroom's dispute is with Zuffa, not with Alalshikh. "It's a never-ending war, isn't it? Not between us and Turki... We have a great relationship... but the Zuffa piece is very separate... they're our competitors."

Fury and Joshua meet in Cardiff on 11 December. Start times, TV and tickets are on our Fury vs Joshua page.