Eddie Hearn: Why Andre Ward let Paul Smith keep $125,000

EDDIE HEARN has recalled the moment Andre Ward allowed Paul Smith to keep a $125,000 fine for missing weight.

American great Ward faced Smith back in June 2015 at the Oracle Arena after the Englishman had missed the contracted weight by four pounds. Per the terms of the contract, Smith had to pay a total of $125,000 for the infringement.

Ward stopped Smith in the ninth round of their non-title fight and within moments of the result, he had decided to allow his opponent to keep the money.

Speaking to Ward on the All The Smoke Fight podcast, Hearn, Smith’s promoter for the fight, said: “I will never forget, because it was one of my best educations, when you fought Paul Smith in Oakland.

“Paul Smith messed up the weight. They came into me an hour before the weight and said: ‘we’ve got a problem… Paul Smith is overweight’.

“Right, how much is he overweight? Four pounds. I’m like ‘four pounds!?’ We are in Oakland. I asked them how much he can get off, he told me he’s been working at it, but he’s f****d. I’m like, ‘guys, you can’t be four pounds over’.

“We go in, we let Roc Nation know, I think they found out on the scales. I was young at the time, it was nine years ago.

“After the fight, you came up to me in the ring, and the deal that I did was that he had to pay you an extra $125,000 for missing weight. 

“But you came up to me and said ‘is he a good guy?’ I said ‘yeah, he’s a great guy’. You said ‘has he got a family?’ I said ‘yeah, they’re all here’. You said ‘tell him to keep the $125,000.’”