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Home » Eddie Hearn responds to Bob Arum ‘clueless’ jibe with ESPN ratings snipe

Eddie Hearn responds to Bob Arum ‘clueless’ jibe with ESPN ratings snipe

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  • 3 min read

Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has responded to rival Bob Arum’s recent explosive interview with World Boxing News.

Arum told WBN last month that Hearn is ‘clueless’ regarding the American market. Also that he should ship out of his position at DAZN.

Hearn was the first to sign a long-term deal with the streaming service. He was closely followed by Oscar De La Hoya and GGG Promotions.

In the midst of seeing out a few shows on US soil, rumors are rife that Hearn is under pressure to deliver bigger numbers.

Arum took it upon himself to dish out a verbal battering to Hearn. The Hall of Famer stated the Essex man should go back to the UK with his tail firmly between his legs and take his ego with him.

“Eddie Hearn is an okay guy but he’s too full of himself to really be effective,” Arum told World Boxing News in an exclusive interview.

“DAZN has him doing events in the U.S. Everybody looking at it knows that it’s a mash. He’s spending money on these ridiculous programmes on DAZN that nobody cares about.

“He’s spending more money on these shows than Haymon is on PBC. Or even what we’re doing on ESPN. (The difference is) We both understand the U.S market, which Hearn doesn’t.

“DAZN itself would be much better advised having fights other than Canelo, which will get a lot of attention. They would be much better off, DAZN turning over their domestic programming in the US to Oscar’s Golden Boy.

“At least Oscar knows the market, particularly the Hispanic market. Eddie doesn’t have a clue.

“For example, he did a fight in Philadelphia on a Friday night (last month featuring Tevin Farmer). There wasn’t much attendance. One of the reasons is, they sold all of the tickets out of the UK when the fight was in Philadelphia.

“That type of activity showed that it couldn’t work when the revolutionary war was fought with George Washington fighting the Brits.

“You don’t run a promotion in the U.S from the UK. You don’t have all the tickets come out of the UK. It makes no sense.

“It wouldn’t make sense if we did a fight with Frank Warren in the UK and controlled everything from the US.

“But if you’re going to be so full of yourself and spend all your time as he does, making video shots of himself giving interviews and saying outlandish things, he’s not going to be effective.

“Barry (Eddie’s father) was a terrific promoter. He always knew enough to be behind the scenes. Not to be this spokesperson for Eddie’s ego and agenda.”

RESPONSE

Hearn, being as respectful as possible under the circumstances, offered his opinion on the situation with Arum.

“I think Bob’s under a lot of pressure at ESPN. You know, I think his last show, Pulev v Dinu, the ratings were extremely poor,” Hearn pointed out to DAZN owned media outlet Sporting News.

“But I’m flattered that Bob’s on the offensive. Him attacking us in the public eye because it means we’re doing something right.

“He doesn’t like to be challenged in his own market, but you know we have a lot of respect for Bob and Top Rank. We look forward to the challenge,” he added.