Matchroom Boxing Bout Between Aqib Fiaz and Kane Baker Canceled Due to Betting Irregularities

The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) has launched an investigation following the abrupt cancellation of the bout between Aqib Fiaz and Kane Baker, which was scheduled for Saturday, June 22nd. Promoter Eddie Hearn made the decision to call off the fight after being alerted to suspicious betting activities. Hearn reported the irregularities to the BBBoC and confirmed the cancellation to BoxingNewsED lead reporter Andi Purewal.

The incident marks another controversy in the Hearn lead Matchroom Boxing’s history involving allegations of fight fixing. A February 2020 bout between David Allen and Dorian Darch faced similar allegations. Despite the allegations, the fight proceeded, and Allen secured a victory by knocking out Darch in the third round.

At the time of the bout, Hearn said of his conversation with Robert Smith, the general secretary of the BBBoC, “I spoke to Robert Smith, who said that he had a call from the Gambling Commission, who are looking into reports and stories of those allegations…It’s important these things are investigated because it’s something we have to take very, very seriously across all the sports that we’re involved with.”

The bout between Allen and Darch raised eyebrows when bookmakers initially priced Allen at 9/2. The odds dramatically shifted to evens due to a significant influx of bets, a pattern first noticed by SkyBet. An alarming spike in bets on specific outcomes, placed across various high-street betting shops, further heightened suspicions.

During the fight, Darch hit the canvas twice, failing to recover after the second knockdown. Controversially, replays appeared to show Darch encouraging Allen by saying “Go on” just moments before being punched. Allen defended himself against the fight-fixing allegations, stating, “People were saying it was a fix because I was planning on it being a six-round move around. A few of my mates had a lot of money on the points win and it didn’t come in but I am not the sort of guy who picks a round to win, I am not really good enough to do that.”

The bout against Allen turned out to be the last fight of Darch’s career, concluding a professional journey where he fought two to three times a year over nine years. Similarly, it was the last appearance for Allen on a Hearn-promoted Matchroom card. Up until that point, Allen had been a fan favorite and a regular feature on Hearn’s events.