On more than one occasion over the past week, Eddie Hearn admitted that he’s losing friends in the boxing business. Floyd Mayweather CEO Leonard Ellerbe is one of them.
Mayweather Promotions’ head honcho blasted Hearn for comments about Showtime boss Stephen Espinoza when speaking to the MMA Hour recently.
Before the interview with Ariel Helwani, Hearn stated his relationship with Premier Boxing Champions boss Al Haymon wasn’t good and that he’s only really dealing with Bob Arum out of the big three US promoters.
Haymon, Ellerbe, and Espinoza represent a considerable chunk of stateside boxing. Any promoter would struggle to get by without a good relationship with that trio.
Nonetheless, Hearn will continue after telling Helwani he tried to build a bridge with Espinoza at Canelo vs. Caleb Plant last year.
“Not really [have a bad relationship] with Bob [Arum] because I’ve been to Top Ranks shows,” Hearn explained to Helwani.
Eddie Hearn talks Stephen Espinoza#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/LyJO8C60M3
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 2, 2022
“But I remember Canelo vs. Plant. It was so funny. Me and Stephen Espinoza don’t really have the best relationship as he had Anthony Joshua, and I took him to DAZN.
“I was in the Hennessy lounge for the Canelo vs. Plant fight, and I saw Stephen. I thought I’d just go and say hello. I went over to him, and I said, ‘Stephen, how are you?’
“And he went [blank stare] and walked off. He wouldn’t shake my hand. I just thought back to Conor McGregor [calling Espinoza ‘a weasel’] at the Floyd Mayweather presser, and I thought, ‘yeah.’
“The pettiness of that is unreal,” concluded Hearn.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER CEO
Getting wind of what Hearn said on The MMA Hour, Ellerbe hit back and aired strong views about the Matchroom Boxing promoter.
“[There’s] Nothing fake about Stephen. He’s a real one. He knows a piece of s*** when he sees it. Don’t get me started on this clown.”
During fight week for Serrano vs. Taylor, Hearn said several statements that riled out social media, leading to some adding the Essex man seems ‘bitter’ about the fact the top brass in America now shuns him.
EDDIE HEARN BITTER
One commenter said: “Seeing how bitter he is as he fades into irrelevancy on his little app is amazing.
“All the big fights happen without Eddie Hearn involved, and he hates it.”
Another added: “Eddie Hearn is absolutely rattled. Coming across as very bitter as of late.”
The last comment pointed to another interview where Hearn made fun of a tick condition that UK rival Frank Warren possessed when he tried to diss the Tyson Fury event that sold out Wembley.
As things stand, Hearn is in good standing with DAZN, and all seems well in-house. But making those huge events will prove challenging for Hearn unless he can repair the damage done by too many interviews and poking fun at people he should be looking to work with on social media.
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 us on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.