Martyn Ford has hinted his rival Iranian Hulk is to blame for their heavyweight grudge match being shelved.
Ford was set to make his boxing debut against long-term rival Iranian Hulk - real name Sajad Gharibi - at The O2 arena on April 30, but the fight has now been cancelled having already been rescheduled last month. The Iranian star was previously offered a way out of the clash and frequently worried fans with messages on social media and national TV.
The British star has now been devastated to miss out on his upcoming clash, but has reluctantly confirmed that the fight was unable to take place due to issues beyond his control. He said during an Instagram video : "This is a statement I didn't want to have to release but my fight is going to be postponed. The event is still going to take place and there is some great people and some great fights on.
"But unfortunately my fight will not be one of them due to reasons out of my control. It doesn't take a genius to figure them all out, I don't want to talk about it, too much time and energy has been wasted. I am still here and I am still training hard, but there will be a debut and there will be a fight. I am just not 100 per cent sure who or when and why?"
Ford has been preparing for the clash with Gharibi since 2019 when the pair initially called for the clash during his time signed to Polish MMA promotion KSW. The pair clashed during their first face-off in Dubai with the pair coming to blows followed by a heated altercation at a press conference just a day later.
However the Iranian star worried fans he would get "destroyed" by Ford in the build-up after posting a series of bizarre training routines including wrestling three sparring partners. He also posted a worrying social media message wishing for "death" and even claiming that he had brought no trainer with him to Dubai during the media duties.
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He later claimed during an Iranian national TV interview that he had been disowned by his parents due to the antics surrounding the fight and was taking sleeping pills. "I cannot call my family; when I returned [to Iran] I didn't go to my family," Hulk said while bursting into tears on Iranian TV.
"I can't talk to my father and my mother, when I spoke to her, said: 'The person in this video that I saw was not my son, my son is way stronger than this'. It hurts my heart when I can't talk to my family.
"I have lost my pride and I am destroyed. How can I explain? They deceived me and I fell to the ground. My family said that you will go there and finish him. They expected the other way around. How can I sleep or get any rest."
