Martyn Ford has admitted he feels vindicated for pulling out of his fight with Iranian Hulk after the bodybuilder was humiliated on his boxing debut.
Ford was due to take on Hulk - real name Sajad Gharibi - four months ago but the fight was first postponed and then cancelled over fears for his opponent's mental health. Ford has yet to make his ring debut but Hulk took on Kazakh Titan in Dubai last night, only to barely throw a punch while repeatedly turning his back on his opponent.
The fight was stopped at the end of the first round when Hulk was dropped by a right hook. He has since apologised for his performance, claiming he only had two weeks to train. Ford, meanwhile, took to social media to say he hopes his former rival is given the help he needs.
"I can hold my head high, and with pride," he wrote. "You only need to watch the fight, to understand EXACTLY why I pulled out. I just hope those who encouraged and pushed this fight are there to support him after. To me, I would rather walk away and risk being called a coward over potentially what could have happened to this kid in the ring if we had fought.
"There is NO way he should ever have been passed fit to fight, and everyone surrounding this needs to question themselves, and take responsibility for the backlash of what will now follow. This is not entertainment, it is bullying and taking advantage of a clearly delusional human being."
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Boxing fans have also taken to social media to express their relief that Ford did not go through with the fight. One wrote: "Huge respect for Martyn Ford for pulling out of the Hulk fight. Just watched the Hulk-Titan fight…..wow…..pretty shocking. Don’t understand why he is putting himself through it. Kind of feel sorry for him that he feels that he has to prove something?"
Others were more frank, with one writing: "Martyn Ford would’ve genuinely destroyed this dude" while another said: "I’m so glad he didn’t fight Martyn Ford. Martyn ford would have killed him with one hit."
