“If you’re that doctrinaire, don’t watch this movie,” Frank Warren tells Jeff Stelling in his astonishing commentary on the Saudi Arabian national anthem.

Frank Warren made incredulous comments about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the sport during a heated debate with Jeff Stelling.

The boxing promoter joined talkSPORT this morning to discuss Anthony Joshua being defeated by his opponent Daniel Dubois.

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Before the Gulf state-funded match at Wembley Stadium, Saudi Arabia’s national anthem was played and some fans protested.

Radio host Stehling asked Warren if he expected to be criticised for this, to which he angrily replied: “No, not really, because it’s the Saudi season special, the Wembley edition.

“If we hadn’t done it because of the Saudi Arabian weather, the fight would have been in Riyadh and the Saudi national anthem would have been played in Riyadh, as they did in every fight and as they did in L.A.

“The Saudi national anthem is playing a very important role in this fight with us.

“And it was a fantastic event and the British national anthem was played as usual, as the final national anthem just before the main contest between the two Britons.”

Stelling then raised the issue of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, and Warren slammed critics for buying tickets to the match of Dubois vs. A.J.

He angrily said: “Well, if they are prepared to sacrifice their principles then that’s fine, it’s up to them. If they are so principled about it, don’t watch the fight. Vote with your feet if you feel that way.”

“People go to play golf. That’s what makes me laugh at you guys, you attack them and make such comments.

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“But what about football players who go there? What about golfers? What about tennis players? What about equestrians? What about music stars from around the world?”

“You’ll keep living in the past and be stuck in it instead of moving forward. I’ve been through that and it was an eye-opening experience for me.

“This is a young country with a very young population, I think 70 per cent of the general population is young people under the age of 30, who are the highest number of social media users in the world,” he said.

“It’s fantastic. They’re seeing everything from around the world. Riyadh Season is a cultural event.

“As far as that is concerned, we as a nation, as our nation, were only six to nine months ago in King Charles Africa, one second away from apologising for the atrocities against the Mau Mau, although atrocities were committed on both sides.

“This is what happens in history. Things happen. You move on. And by moving on, you create a better world.”

“If you lock people up and lock them up how can you expect anything to change?

“And Saudi Arabia is changing. I’ve heard all these things there. What about women and so on. I’ve been there and I’ve seen women working, I’ve seen women driving cars.

“I was told none of this was going to happen. I saw it with my own eyes.

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“I’m not there to defend anybody. All I am saying is that we have a government, a country that has done trade with Saudi Arabia, that buys petrol from them.

“I remember Boris Johnson went there during the fuel shortage problem, negotiating for oil. If our government, if our arms industry is doing this, if you are doing this, you are buying programmes from it, from the Saudis to broadcasting, TV, everyone is doing this.

“Everybody is doing it – then why are we all boxing?

“Unless we get some financial support for it, we can’t put on events of this quality with an undercard like this, it’s not right.

“So let’s celebrate what happened at Wembley. It was a fantastic night for British sport.”

Stelling said Warren had defended himself well, but added that the criticism was fair.

The two then took aim at each other, with the former Sky Sports host saying: “Whether you like it or not you’re going to have complaints, the government there pisses off a lot of people.”

They then continued to argue, and Warren encouraged him to tour the country.

But Stelling said he had no interest in making the trip.