'I lost a fortune from that fight. A hell of a lot of money'
Martyn Ford has claimed that he missed out on at least £1million after his fight with the 'Iranian Hulk' - real name Sajad Gharibi - was cancelled.
Ford, dubbed by many as the 'World's Scariest Man', was set to face-off against the
Iranian Hulk on April 30 at the O2 Arena in London. However, the bout was
cancelled after concerns for his opponent's "mental wellbeing".
Speaking in April, the 39-year-old, who is 6ft 9in and 130kg, said: "This is a statement I didn't want to have to release but unfortunately my fight is going to be postponed. The event is still on, it's just my fight.
"The event will still go ahead and there are some great people and fights on. Unfortunately mine won't be one of them, for reasons out of my control. It doesn't take a genius to figure them all out.
"I don't want to go down the route of talking about it; too much time and energy has been wasted.
"I'm still training hard, there will be a debut. there will be a fight, I'm just not 100 per cent sure who, when or why, but it will happen."
Ford claims he 'lost a fortune' as a result of the cancelled bout
While Ford was annoyed that the fight was cancelled, he admits that he did not want to be responsible for the death of his rival if he opted to take his own life following the bout.
"I lost a fortune from that fight. A hell of a lot of money," Ford said during an
interview with Rob Moore.
When asked if it was in the region of seven figures, Ford replied: "Yes, it was a lot of money but for me it wasn't worth the gamble if he had taken his own life but that would have been 100 per cent down to me.
"I am sure he is very depressed at the moment and I wouldn't want to be someone who adds to it. It was money that I had been promised but never had so I don't miss it. Once that face-off happened for me it was embarrassing, he was absolutely sh****** himself and he was shaking.
"I don't want to fight someone who can't fight that is not going to be fair. But there has to be an element of fairness and it just wasn't there."
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Gharibi 'disowned by parents' during build-up to fight
The 'Iranian Hulk' was pushed to the floor by Ford during a face-off as the pair clashed prior to the postponed bout, and he also tried to start confrontation by flipping over a table and spilling popcorn on the ground. Gharibi later confirmed that his parents had 'disowned him', leading him to burst into tears.
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