Eddie Hearn Lashes Out At His Rival Promoters – ‘They Don’t Want Me Here’

November 15, 2023
2 years

Eddie Hearn has lashed out at his rival promoters and networks following Canelo Alvarez’s three-fight-deal with the PBC and the recent performance of his fighter Edgar Berlanga 

The Matchroom Boxing CEO lost Alvarez after he had been a loyal fighter on the network, having had some of his biggest fights on DAZN.

The bouts against Gennady Golovkin and Dmitri Bivol were testament to that. While that may have been the case, Hearn could not keep Canelo on his roster. 

A rematch with Bivol failed to materialize, as the duo could not agree on the weight class. Bivol’s insistence on fighting at 168 lbs was at odds with Canelo’s desire to avenge his defeat at light heavyweight. 

Meanwhile, other big fights were off the table. A bout with David Benavidez could arguably be only possible on the PBC roster given the ‘Mexican Monster’s’ connections to Al Haymon. 

And yet, that was not factored into the thinking as Hearn’s rival promoters came out to slam his stable.

Those comments did not sit well with Hearn who fired back. 

“Yeah, he’s obviously taking his eye off the ball. He’s worried about me. You know, he’s losing these fighters. Obviously, he’s got the biggest fight of his career coming up in the courtroom with Ryan Garcia.

“I like Oscar, you know, I’ve got nothing against him. He’s a little bit crazy. I hope he can find some happiness. He’s one of my favorite fighters, but he seems to, you know, have this strange attraction to me where he talks about me all the time,” Hearn 

https://twitter.com/Salmantheboxing/status/1672875841494347777

De La Hoya was not the only one that Hearn took issue with. The Brit notoriously has a bad relationship with many American promoters, including Bob Arum and Leonard Ellerbe.

The latter, in particular, has been very vocal about DAZN’s operating model over the years after Hearn claimed that pay-per-view was dead, only to then follow the model on DAZN. 

Not only that, but Hearn infamously stated that the PBC and Showtime would go out of business. However, Showtime has put on the biggest events in 2023.

The fights with David Benavidez vs Caleb Plant, Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia and now Spence vs Crawford are indicative of that. 

While those words above have come back to haunt Hearn, he is sticking to his guns. 

“They don’t want me here. You know, I’m just a guy from the UK coming over. I mean, we’re the only global promotional company in the world, and America is a big market.

“We’re doing 12 to 16 shows here. We’ve done the biggest shows here consistently over the last few years with Canelo Alvarez and Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano and Bivol and everybody. 

“So I think we’re in a great place. We’re delivering great value for fights on DAZN. And, you know, for me it’s important to keep moving. Oscar De La Hoya, Bob Arum, PBC None of them want me here but I guess it’s flattering,” Hearn 

Canelo’s departure has now put more pressure on Anthony Joshua to perform, who is the main cash cow of the stable.

But given that he does not appear to be the same fighter that once unified the heavyweight division, it is more vital than ever to manage this career moving forward. 

And in the meantime, Hearn will have to put on bigger events to remain competitive as the PBC is doing. 

“All it does for me is give me a kick up the backside. You know what I’m like. I’m a competitor. So if they’re doing better than us this year, the only thing on my mind is, ‘How do we win? How do we get even?

“How do we make a big fight?’ “What do we do with that budget to make a slate in the last six months to get all squared, and that’s good news for fight fans because you know what I’m like. I’m not going to lie down and say, ‘I’m happy to be #2 or #3.’ Nah,” Hearn 

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