Top US boxer Heather 'The Heat' Hardy slammed Eddie Hearn as "so abusive" after the British promoter shared his thoughts on pay in women's boxing.
In an interview with iFL TV, Hearn aligned his views with one of his boxers (Ramala Ali) in saying that female fighters can't expect equal pay if the commercial value of the fight is not the same.
But Hardy, who was an MMA fighter in Bellator before turning to boxing, accused Hearn of laying the problem at the door of women boxers.
"This is so abusive," said the featherweight on Twitter. "He's literally saying 'girls, this is on you.'
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"How F**KING dare he. How many of his men did he give this speech to? Sorry. Won't let this go. F**king gross @EddieHearn do BETTER."
Hardy is one of the highest profile female boxers in America, having amassed 22 wins against just one defeat in her pro career.
The 38-year-old New Yorker understandably feels passionately about the subject of pay in her profession. But in Hearn, she is railing against a promoter who has a show this Saturday at Wembley which is headlined by three women's world championship fights.
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Hearn had originally told iFL TV: "Women's pay in boxing: seen a few tweets about that recently and Ramala Ali put a great tweet out today that said, we can't expect equal pay if the commercial value of the fight is not the same.
"So please all support this show on November 14th... And no one is doing more for women's boxing than Matchroom. We just have to keep pushing.
"But ultimately, we have to change world championship fights from perhaps the commercial equivalent of a British or a European men's fight and try and give it the same kind of commercial value and credibility as a male fight. And then we can start really moving forward."
Hearn has put unbeaten lightweight world champion Katie Taylor in top-of-the-bill fights, as well as in high-profile spots such as on the undercard of Anthony Joshua bouts. Terri Harper vs Natasha Jonas also headlined one of Hearn's Fight Camp cards in August.
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But Jonas later revealed to The Athletic that she couldn't agree on a deal for a rematch after her thrilling draw with Harper, due to the pay on offer.
"You're asking women to top bills and be chief support but not paying them chief support money," the British super-featherweight said.
"I don't think anyone is asking for equal pay because we realise we're not quite there yet. But it's the fact that they think myself versus Harper was a top-of-the-bill fight but are not willing to pay me top-of-the-bill money."
Hardy clearly feels the same and has expressed her views in far more robust language.
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It's a thorny issue. Some will claim Hearn is doing more than most promoters to shine a spotlight on women's boxing, but some boxers clearly feel the pay imbalance is too great.
At least all sides can see eye-to-eye in hoping that Saturday's card - headlined by Taylor, Harper and Rachel Ball vs Jorgelina Guanini in a bantamweight world-title fight - is a smash hit.
Featured image credit: PA Images
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