Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has come under fire from the UK media for an absolute shambles of a week in London.
The whole situation surrounding Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn exploded on Wednesday when the results of a failed test were leaked to the British press.
Since then, the debacle has only gotten worse. It’s now been revealed that the results of the Benn test [taken September 1st by VADA] came back on September 23rd.
Therefore, those organizing the show knew Benn had an adverse finding a full fifteen days before the October 8 fight was due to take place.
Attempting to sweep the red flag under the carpet was the first mistake. The second was a blatant disregard for the rules of boxing.
Signing up for VADA is optional for a boxer and his team. However, if you will only ignore the results, why undergo testing in the first place?
Questions blocked at the press conference
That is just one question from a long line that was unable to be answered by Hearn at a press conference calling off the fight. The Essex man put a block on being held accountable as he sat gloomily alongside co-promoter Kalle Sauerland.
Trying to save the show by throwing VADA under the bus and only using the green-lighted results from UKAD testing was bad enough, but to then also not take any notice of the British Boxing Board of Control’s prohibition of the fight only adds to a long list of black eyes.
Donald McRae, a respected sports journalist in the United Kindom, unleashed a barrage on Hearn, squarely putting the blame at his door.
Writing in The Guardian, McRae said: “Eddie Hearn is acutely aware of these grim stories in British boxing.
“He also cried openly when Patrick Day, an intelligent and inspirational young American fighter, lost his life after fighting on a Hearn promotion in Chicago in 2019.
“Yet the famously garrulous promoter and his paymasters, the streaming service Dazn, risked shredding all vestiges of their integrity by riding roughshod over the stipulation by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC). The BBBofC had said Saturday night’s fight between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr should be “prohibited.”
He added: “It may be wishful thinking, but Hearn and all those involved in promoting this fight, which has been built on the apparently noble “legacy” of the two brutal bouts between Eubank Sr and Benn Sr in the 1990s, should take a long, hard look at their motives and the way they operate.
“They know, as do the Benn and Eubank families even more painfully, that the lives of boxers are always at risk inside the ring.
Eddie Hearn stupidity
“The legacy of this week is more than mere embarrassment and humiliation. It reeks of greed and stupidity, incompetence, and danger.”
McRae also pointed out that three fighters involved in the promotion for the “Born Rivals” element had been involved in sickening injuries inside the ring.
Chris Eubank Sr. and Michael Watson endured a tragedy during the 1990s. As did Nigel Benn against Gerald McClellan.
More recently, Eubank Jr. put Nick Blackwell in a coma. He took a one-sided beating in their Match 2016 British middleweight title fight.
Oliver Brown of The Telegraph pointed out that Hearn had also slammed the exact events that transpired this week when they happened to another promoter.
But that still didn’t stop Hearn from trying to overthrow the rules and not listening to the seriousness of a failed test by an athlete attempting to blow up two weight divisions.
“Eddie Hearn’s hypocrisy over Conor Benn is quite the spectacle,” said Brown.
The True Geordie Podcaster said about Hearn: “Bad look for Eddie Hearn to have known about this for weeks. He kept quiet after everything he said about PEDs.
“Must be a financial mare for DAZN with all that promo spend! George Warren might finally get a call back now about AJ vs Fury.”
Eddie Hearn was branded “arrogant”
According to many on social media, Hearn is coming across as arrogant and looking at profits over fighter safety.
One said: “Shameless. Very different responses when it’s somebody else’s fighter to when it’s one of yours.
“Suppose Benn’s B-sample will end up in the same place Dillian Whyte’s did?”
Another added: “A press conference where the press isn’t allowed to ask any questions? You lot can’t stop scoring own goals, can you? Arrogant twerp!”
It’s been some week so far. Hearn was earlier blamed for Anthony Joshua failing to get a shot at Tyson Fury’s WBC heavyweight title.
The fallout looks as though it will continue for some time after two big fights fell apart under his watch.
The Katie Taylor handler, who oversaw Joshua’s two losses to Oleksandr Usyk – the latest in Saudi Arabia, could face some tough questions when the microphones are open.
A complete shambles.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay.
WBN Editor Phil Jay has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews, Instagram, and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
