Iranian Hulk Sajad Gharibi moved to delete many images from his social media account and put a block on unvetted new followers.
The decision came after Gharibi suffered massive abuse on the back of his dismal performance in a boxing match.
Dubbed a ‘catfish’ for his real-life appearance compared to his Instagram posts, Gharibi has been the target of a trolling campaign.
Iranian Hulk images removed
Recently, the Iranian Hulk had many more images on his account. Now, there are just fifteen. Also, anyone who wants to follow him from now on will go through a screening check beforehand.
It is a sad state of affairs when Gharibi felt the need to protect himself from online hate. Hulk hasn’t looked comfortable in any of the situations where he was involved in boxing.
Even proposed former opponent Martyn Ford commented that Gharibi might not be in control of his destiny. The Briton believes Gharibi might have gotten pushed into the sport for the money.
Unfounded allegations, but Ford does have backing from some fans who see the same thing happening to Gharibi.
Hulk got pulled from a fight with Ford once the bodybuilder saw the size difference between the pair. This scenario came about despite Gharibi getting billed as six-foot-four and 400 pounds.
Qazaq Titan
There are also reports that Gharibi tried to back out of his latest fight with Qazaq Titan Djumanov Almat Bakhytovich.
Coach Hamzeh Moradian, who prepared Gharibi for the fight, revealed online why they couldn’t back out.
“After we met, I realized that Sajad’s agent knows nothing about sports. But Sajad has signed a contract with this boxing company in Dubai,” Moradian stated.
“Sajad is supposed to go and fight. But when we talked, I told him there was no way Sajad could fight.
“He said, ‘help him as much as you can.’ I said that he couldn’t do it. I said I didn’t mean to intervene, but I think it’s better if we cancel.
“When they tried to cancel it, they realized it wasn’t possible because they had to pay the [contracted] penalty.
“There are rules anyways. People working in sports know that it’s impossible to cancel such events, and he must attend.
Boxing training
“So, I agreed to help him. We had so little time that I held the training sessions twice daily in the morning and the afternoon.
“Even some days, I picked him up myself. I tried my best to help him. But we didn’t have enough time to get him ready.
“I saw him under pressure and anxious. It’s tough to get in the ring through all that pressure and anxiety.”
Gharibi’s combat career is subsequently over after just one fight, as nobody in their right mind wants to see that action inside the ropes.
Hulk struggled to take punches and had no technique whatsoever. The bout was over within a round.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay.
WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
