Barry Hearn has launched a scathing attack on boxer Conor Benn, labelling his departure from Matchroom Sport as “classless” and the “bitterest exit” he has witnessed in his long career.

Benn, who recently secured a high-profile victory against Chris Eubank Jr at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November, has opted to join Dana White’s Saudi-backed Zuffa company.

This move ends a decade-long association with Matchroom, which had represented him since he turned professional.

The manner of Benn’s exit has particularly incensed Hearn, the founder and president of the boxing promoter, who claims the boxer communicated his decision solely through legal representatives.

Eddie Hearn, Matchroom chairman, previously described the move as a “dagger in the heart”, a sentiment profoundly echoed by his father.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Barry Hearn expressed his profound disappointment, stating: “This wasn’t the average relationship with a contracted boxer, this was special. Conor was as close as he could have been to being part of the family.”

He continued, detailing the perceived slight: “When Eddie suggested to him by text that they meet to discuss it, Conor suggested it’s best to go through lawyers and after 10 years of what we’ve gone through with him, I think in my 50-odd years of promoting sport, this is the most horrible, outrageous… I can’t describe the feeling of when you’ve been let down.”

Hearn likened the situation to a marital breakdown: “I suppose it’s a bit like you’ve been married for 10 years and your wife walks out and you think, why? I didn’t think he was that type of boy. It’s a classless way of doing it when you’ve got an open relationship.”

He concluded by criticising the method of departure, despite acknowledging the financial allure: “With the last Eubank fight, we couldn’t have been in a better position.

“It’s sad to think that Conor went off to America just to solicit offers and got a huge one. But you don’t disband a team and even if you do, you don’t do it by text or by lawyers.”