Eddie Hearn has faced a month of fire from all angles as the Matchroom boss consistently makes headlines in controversial circumstances.
Hearn has roundly come under fire from the Conor Benn row, the DAZN price rise, poaching fighter claims, and accusations of falsities over negotiations.
Eddie Hearn comes under fire
World Boxing News looked at how often Hearn was savaged in the UK media, international press, and social media to pick four standouts out of a hefty choice.
Why the Londoner finds himself on the lips of others so frequently is only a question that Hearn himself can answer. His tendency to be highly vocal in a spate of regular interviews certainly doesn’t help.
He speaks his mind and leaves any ruffling of feathers against his rival firmly in his wake.
From the beginning of the year, many instances could have been chosen. However, WBN stated from mid-March to give a sense of the regularity that Hearn takes flak.
Ohara Davies savages the Matchroom boss
Former Matchroom boxer Ohara Davies was the first to catch the eye when he commented on Lawrence Okolie and Josh Buatsi leaving Hearn under a cloud.
Davies said: “Good move for Buatsi signing to Boxxer. Eddie Hearn couldn’t provide him with the opportunities his talent deserves.
“Matchroom just hasn’t been the same since parting ways with Sky Sports.”
When a fan interjected and stated Hearn is no longer focused on British fighters, Davies added: “Remember when he spoke about YouTube boxing being crap and how they are destroying the sport?
“Now they show all the YouTube Boxing on DAZN. [What a] contradiction.”
Oscar De La Hoya and Leonard Ellerbe
Two days later, it was the turn of Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya. The former eleven-time world champion accused Hearn of trying to poach one of his boxers.
De La Hoya said in reference to Jaime Munguia: “Oh, God. Again?
“Eddie Hearn, stop attempting to poach another one of my world champions, Jaime Munguia. Why is it impossible for you to build your own?
“To quote Roger Mayweather, “you don’t know s*** about boxing!”
Floyd Mayweather CEO Leonard Ellerbe, a long-time detractor of Hearn, commented on De La Hoya’s gripe.
“Although I don’t f*** w you like that, I agree with you one hundred percent,” he stated on De La Hoya’s feelings towards Hearn.
“I approve of this message; I meant every word I’ve ever said about that clown. He’s very disrespectful. He’s a straight b****!”
Frank Warren dismisses any Fury vs Joshua progress
To compound Hearn’s misery, when he mentioned talks had begun for Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, Frank Warren shot him straight down.
“It was a thirty-second conversation,” Warren told talkSPORT. “We’ve not even discussed it with Tyson.
“I’m really annoyed about that. ‘Contracts in the next week,’ absolute b****cks.”
Simon Jordan
Soon after, regarding the controversy over Hearn attempting to arrange a fight for Conor Benn despite two failed drug tests, Simon Jordan joined the free-for-all.
Days after the pair went back and forth on live radio, Jordan pointed out that Hearn’s claim about a new rule involving the British Boxing Board of Control was inaccurate.
“The board wrote to him in 2018/ 19 after Billy Jo Saunders. That rule has changed,” said Jordan.
“They proposed the new rule in February [20] 22 and advised it would take immediate effect and be ratified at the next AGM
“So everyone knew. So again, they [Eddie and his team] knew. As well as the second test failure [that] was [in] September [20] 23.”
It all seems to be water off a duck’s back during fight week for Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin, though. Hearn doesn’t seem to give two hoots about coming under fire at a constant pace.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of experienced boxing writer Phil Jay. Twitter @PhilJWBN. Follow WBN: Facebook, Insta, Twitter.
