Wembley was lit up in Saudi colours before the opening bell (Picture: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Eddie Hearn has hit back at criticism over Saudi Arabia’s national anthem playing ahead of Anthony Joshua’s showdown with Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium.
National anthems from respective fighters’ nations are customary ahead of main event fights. But in bizarre scenes on Saturday night with both fighters stood in the ring, the Saudi anthem rang out before God Save The King.
In a wild contrast to Liam Gallagher’s three-song Oasis set moments earlier, the colours of the Saudi flag lit up the stadium with singer Rashid Al-Majed serenading the crowd.
He was flanked in the centre of the ring by Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Entertainment Authority and man responsible for ‘Riyadh Season’ which has staged the biggest fights in boxing over the last 12 months.
Joshua’s knockout victory over Francis Ngannou and Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury are among the fights to have taken place in Saudi with the anthem played ahead of those contests.
Saturday marked the first time a ‘Riyadh Season’ fight had taken place in the UK, with the decision sparking a major backlash online amid accusations of sportswashing.
But Joshua’s promoter and Matchroom Boxing chief Hearn has defiantly vowed to continue playing the anthem at ‘every show’ bankrolled by Saudi, insisting it is a ‘sign of respect.’
Hearn says Saudi anthem at boxing shows is a ‘sign of respect (Picture: Getty Images)
Hearn told iFL TV: ‘He’s [Turki Alalshikh] given British boxing – all the fighters, all the fans – the best night. He’s paid for it all.
‘I couldn’t have put that event up, Frank Warren couldn’t have put that event up.
‘It’s a sign of respect for the work that’s been put in to create this event – and for 20 seconds, is it a big deal?
‘He [Alalshikh] could have done that show in Riyadh and everyone could go, “Oh, another big fight in Riyadh”.
‘But now he’s actually gone out, spent the money to do it in the UK and given everybody just the best night and all these fighters all these incredible opportunities and we still find a way to say, “Yeah, but they played their national anthem”.
‘Well, you know what? I’ll play the anthem if they want, for what they’re doing, at every show.’