What did Bob Arum say about Kate Abdo? Boxing promoter blasts ‘biased’ Fury vs Wilder press conference host

On Wednesday 6 October 2021 the final press conference before Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder’s third fight took place and was hosted by the British sports presenter Kate Abdo.

Tyson Fury’s promoter in the United States, Bob Arum has since slammed Abdo claiming she was obviously biased towards Wilder and for attempting to instigate a face-off between the two heavyweights.

The Gypsy King and the Bronze Bomber have had face-offs in press conferences leading up to their two previous fights, however Arum claimed that there had been a previous understanding a face-off would not be happening on Wednesday.

What did Bob Arum say about Kate Abdo?

Kate Abdo suggested the face-off and Fury even put down his microphone in preparation for the event, however the presenter stopped just before saying “No, I apologise, we’re not going to do it, no. Bob Arum says no.”

The 89-year-old promoter was then heard shouting “Not a good idea!”

After the press conference ended, Arum went on an expletive rant criticizing Abdo and accusing her of bias towards the American boxer.

Talking to the media after the conference, Arum exclaimed: “They bring this woman in from the UK and she’s slanting all the press conference to Wilder.

“Like I don’t give a damn but it’s obvious what she was doing!

“She knew that the understanding was no face off. We said, no face-off. What does she say: ‘Now we’re going to do a face-off?’

“F*** her and f*** them. There was no face-off and we saved the fight.”

Has Kate Abdo responded?

Following Bob Arum’s extensive rant, Kate Abdo took to Instagram to call out Arum for his “entirely inappropriate” language.

“With regards to the face-off - I was doing what we the broadcaster believed was agreed upon. But I think that’s kind of unimportant now.

“I think the language in this interview was entirely inappropriate. Of course it’s disappointing to be disrespected by someone I respect.”

Kate Abdo recently presented the Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk fight which ended in a shocking defeat for Joshua.

The 40-year-old from Manchester currently hosts the UEFA Champions League football for the American sports television network CBS Sports whilst also working on boxing coverage for DAZN.

What have the boxers said?

Saturday night’s fight will be the final bout in the trilogy between the two and has been billed ‘Once and For All’.

The first fight in December 2018 ended in a draw as all three judges concluded with three different results, despite Wilder knocking Fury twice. The second fight in February 2020 was won by Fury in a knockout.

In his closing comments on Wednesday night, Fury tried riling up Wilder by bringing up the cheating allegations.

“I ask the question, if I only won because I cheated, what was the point of everything and doing all this other work.

After this fight he’ll be back working in that fast food chain that he was working at earlier on in his career. It’s retirement for him.

You’re in denial and you’re getting knocked out. Do yourself a favour and retire, your legacy’s in bits, all the excuses you’ve been destroyed. No one’s even believed you, everyone’s laughing at you. You’re a weak man.”

When is the fight?

Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will face each other for the final time on Saturday 9 October 2021 in Las Vegas.

The ring walk event and undercards will begin at midnight BST with Fury and Wilder expected to enter the ring at 4am BST.

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