Hearn Blasts UK Government Over Fawaz Passport Delay

Eddie Hearn says the UK government should be embarrassed for failing to grant British and Commonwealth light-middleweight champion Bilal Fawaz a passport despite the fighter living in the country for over two decades.

Fawaz was trafficked to London at 14 and has not left the United Kingdom since. The 38-year-old represented England six times as an amateur before turning professional and winning British and Commonwealth titles. His immigration status bars him from fighting abroad or travelling with his family.

"What on earth is the hold-up?" Hearn told the BBC for a new documentary on Fawaz. "You want to go down to Number 10 and bang on the door and say: 'Any chance of dealing with this?' It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

Fawaz On 10-Year Route To Settlement Despite Title Reigns

Born in Nigeria to a Beninese mother and Lebanese father, Fawaz says he was confined in a London house after being brought to the UK and forced to work instead of attending school. After escaping into the care system, he found stability at the All Stars Boxing Club in west London and became an English amateur champion. He received a work permit at 33 and turned professional, beating Ishmael Davis to claim British and Commonwealth belts.

Fawaz is currently on a 10-year route to settlement and will be 43 before becoming eligible for British citizenship. Without a passport he cannot accept fights in Saudi Arabia or the United States. "I am in prison," he said in the BBC documentary Fighting for Freedom, which chronicles his title defence against Ryan Kelly in Wolverhampton last May. "I've been in this country for 24 beautiful years and I've never travelled. I was bleeding in the ring. They don't view me as important."

Hearn said he could secure lucrative fights for Fawaz in America or Saudi Arabia if the government acted. "The government are denying him that opportunity, which is so wrong," the promoter said. A Home Office spokesperson told BBC Sport the department does not comment on individual cases. Fawaz defends his British title later this year.

Source: bbc.co.uk