Hearn Blames White's Arrogance For Fury-Joshua Drama

Eddie Hearn says Dana White created the monthslong feud over the Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua fight through sheer arrogance.

The Matchroom promoter told The Stomping Ground on Thursday that White and Zuffa Boxing could have avoided the entire conflict by requesting a simple conversation instead of trying to force involvement in the Dec. 11 heavyweight bout. Hearn says White's team disrespected the existing promotional agreements and expected him to fold without a fight.

Hearn Says White Wanted To Walk In And Take Over

According to MMA Fighting, Hearn explained that if White had approached Saudi money man Turki Alalshikh and acknowledged the contractual restrictions, then asked for a sit-down, he probably would have found common ground. "Really what they should have done and I told SELA this originally. What you need to do is tell Dana White when he speaks just to say, 'I understand contractually we can't be involved in the event, however, Turki Alalshikh, Netflix, I think would like us to be involved in the event so what I'm going to do is sit down with Eddie and Turki and we'll talk about it and try to find a solution,'" Hearn said. "I probably would have had that meeting and just gone 'Sweet, we'll find a way.'"

Instead, Hearn says White tried to bulldoze his way in. "There's an arrogance, they're control freaks, they don't like it when things don't go their way," he added. Hearn took a public victory lap Wednesday when White skipped the first press conference for the event.

The fight is now official for Dec. 11, but Hearn made clear the burned bridges may not rebuild. "They think you can just walk in and take over," he said. "It's not going to play out like that."

Reported via:

• MMA Fighting — Eddie Hearn blames Dana White’s ‘arrogance’ for nasty rhetoric in lead-up to Fury vs. Joshua: ‘They’re control freaks’