Comments Thread For: Callum Johnson vs. Marko Nikolic Set For Edwards-Mama Card

[Rodtang]

How do you know that?
I think I saw an interview where Hearn said he had made an offer but Joe Gallagher didn’t counter back, and not even responded?

Liam and Callum Smith have both left Gallagher’s stable too which shows he may have been turning down fights on behalf of his boxers?

Matchroom did try to make the buatsi vs Johnson fight but Joe Gallagher rejected it as he was not happy with the money for his fighter saying, " I bet Buatsi isn't taking less money " . Buatsi is way more marketable than Johnson and the money generated for that was basically coming from Buatsi's popularity, not Johnson's. I like Johnson since he got my country a gold at the Commonwealth games but he's not that popular. Joe Gallagher needs to start realizing that.

[Rodtang]

At least he’s active but yeah another sh**ty opponent. I’m hoping the end game is Johnson vs the Arthur-Yarde 2 winner, but it seems 2021 will be yet another wasted year for Johnson.

I'd like to see him fight Yarde and Arthur

[Rodtang]

From a fighter who trains with Johnson. It was going to be a co-main on a Sky PPV, might have been Whyte-Povetkin, anyway Buatsi’s team turned it down. In fairness, Buatsi probably isn’t ready for that type of matchup yet.

I wouldn’t believe a word of Hearn’s spiel, Johnson and Joe both wanted the Buatsi fight. I’m sure Matchroom pulled some sh** on Johnson which cancelled his EBU title fight too, I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was something along the lines of a purse reduction based on ticket sales or some sh** like that. Might have my wires crossed there but I’m sure it was Johnson, and they had to reschedule it and put it on a PPV card instead which was eventually cancelled due to the pandemic.

It was Johnson's team that turned it down claiming the money was ridiculous and trying to say Buatsi's money wouldn't have been cut. And that was from Gallaghers mouth not Hearns.

[Rodtang]

From a fighter who trains with Johnson. It was going to be a co-main on a Sky PPV, might have been Whyte-Povetkin, anyway Buatsi’s team turned it down. In fairness, Buatsi probably isn’t ready for that type of matchup yet.

I wouldn’t believe a word of Hearn’s spiel, Johnson and Joe both wanted the Buatsi fight. I’m sure Matchroom pulled some sh** on Johnson which cancelled his EBU title fight too, I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was something along the lines of a purse reduction based on ticket sales or some sh** like that. Might have my wires crossed there but I’m sure it was Johnson, and they had to reschedule it and put it on a PPV card instead which was eventually cancelled due to the pandemic.

Your right about the the EBU fight not happening because of reduced purse offers. But again it was team Johnson that turned it down. There were no crowds allowed lol did they seriously think they were still going to get what they did before lol? Lots of fighters didn't even get fights. There are fighters out there that have chucked it because of this. At least Johnson was still receiving offers. Just greed and then passing blame.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

He was offered fights but they didn't want a pay cut. Joe Gallagher prattling on about sky cutting boxing money but not for football, and you don't see AJ taking a pay cut. Pretty sure AJ wouldn't have made the same against Pulev with 1000 fans as he does selling out big stadia. There was a pandemic, and all fighters were taking pay cuts. Yet Gallagher couldn't accept that for his fighters. He made a big deal about Natasha Jonas not getting as much as well so it wasn't just Johnson. Matchroom offered him a new contract and he rejected it simple as that, not frozen out. But they were overvaluing themselves.Now he's with Warren fighting Croation and Serbian bouncers and I'd be hugely surprised if he's earning more than he would at Matchroom.

Matchroom left him on the shelf for 2 years. They definitely froze him out. You’ve got to factor in Matchroom are far more influential in the sport than Gallagher, so they’ve done well controlling the narrative and making Joe the scapegoat. I’m not a fan of Joe G whatsoever, overrated trainer IMO but I believe he’s telling the truth in this instance. He’s also somebody who always looks after his fighters, there’s no way he’d stand in the way of his fighters making money.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Your right about the the EBU fight not happening because of reduced purse offers. But again it was team Johnson that turned it down. There were no crowds allowed lol did they seriously think they were still going to get what they did before lol? Lots of fighters didn't even get fights. There are fighters out there that have chucked it because of this. At least Johnson was still receiving offers. Just greed and then passing blame.

Team Johnson never rejected the fight to my knowledge. They did reject a purse reduction though which I completely understand, especially as they’d already agreed a deal.

[Rodtang]

Matchroom left him on the shelf for 2 years. They definitely froze him out. You’ve got to factor in Matchroom are far more influential in the sport than Gallagher, so they’ve done well controlling the narrative and making Joe the scapegoat. I’m not a fan of Joe G whatsoever, overrated trainer IMO but I believe he’s telling the truth in this instance. He’s also somebody who always looks after his fighters, there’s no way he’d stand in the way of his fighters making money.

Ironically I'm the opposite. I've always quite liked Joe Gallagher but in this case I don't believe him. I watched interviews at the time and Eddie said offers were made including a contract extension. But I also saw one of JG and if he denied that then I might have agreed with you about Matchroom controlling the narrative, but he was admitting there were offers and an extension. I also saw CJ saying the same in his interviews. So you can't say they were frozen out dude as the offers were there. You either accept or don't and they didn't claiming the money was pitiful. Yet Joe Gallagher is the only guy I've heard complaining about it. Most other fighters and teams were just glad to be getting back fighting at all. I think they tried to call Eddie's bluff and it backfired.

[Rodtang]

Team Johnson never rejected the fight to my knowledge. They did reject a purse reduction though which I completely understand, especially as they’d already agreed a deal.

They rejected the purse reduction and waited thinking that Eddie would get back with a better offer but he didn't. That's because he made an offer that reflected the financial climate at the time during Covid. Again Joe's ego expected him to return with more money and he was told that wasn't happening, so there's an offer there, take it or leave it. They left it. So in the end that's a rejected offer pal.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Ironically I'm the opposite. I've always quite liked Joe Gallagher but in this case I don't believe him. I watched interviews at the time and Eddie said offers were made including a contract extension. But I also saw one of JG and if he denied that then I might have agreed with you about Matchroom controlling the narrative, but he was admitting there were offers and an extension. I also saw CJ saying the same in his interviews. So you can't say they were frozen out dude as the offers were there. You either accept or don't and they didn't claiming the money was pitiful. Yet Joe Gallagher is the only guy I've heard complaining about it. Most other fighters and teams were just glad to be getting back fighting at all. I think they tried to call Eddie's bluff and it backfired.

I think you’re putting too much weight on what Eddie said mate. This is kind of what I mean by controlling the narrative, I’m guessing all this was said on platforms like IFL, behind the gloves, boxing social etc. We all know channels like that rely on Matchroom for both access and content. I’m not saying there’s no truth to what Eddie’s saying but he’s hardly the most trustworthy of fellas. There’s Eddie’s side, there’s Joe’s side and somewhere in the middle is probably the truth.

We obviously don’t know what the offers were, but I get the feeling they continually lowballed Johnson and essentially forced him out. I can understand why Matchroom did that, they obviously view Buatsi as an asset whilst Johnson was becoming a bit of a problem for that asset by publicly calling to fight him. Obviously we’ll never actually know how it all went down, admittedly I might be wrong, but that’s my instinct on how the situation unfolded based on what I’ve seen/heard.

[Mick Higgs]

I was very disappointed when Callum turned down the EBU shot, this could have set up some cracking fight's with Buatsi, Richards, Arthur & even Callum Smith.
Regarding Chamberlian & Garner, Frank should be pestering the BBBofC for English title fight's.