The Matchroom boss is under intense pressure to accept Dana White as promoter of Fury vs AJ
There is a coordinated effort underway to shame Eddie Hearn into going ahead with the big fight in December, even though it looks like his arch rival, Dana White will be involved.
Tyson Fury has taken to social media to call both Hearn and Joshua cowards. He said that Hearn's massive ego could prevent the greatest fight ever between two British boxers from taking place. If the British fans, many of whom have booked trains and hotel rooms in Cardiff are let down, then AJ and Hearn, says Fury, will be to blame.
Dana White, who's in London for his promotion of the Johnny Fisher fight at the Copperbox Arena, has said the same thing: the problem is Eddie Hearn's enormous ego.
White said that the fact that he is the promoter of AJ vs Fury is clearly demonstrated by the fact that he is publicly speaking about the fight. Well not really, Dana. I too am talking about the fight, but that doesn't mean I am promoting it.
It also should be noted that Eddie Hearn has not threatened to pull AJ out of this fight, which is now officially headed for Cardiff's Principality Arena on December 11th. All he has said is that he is considering cancelling the launch press conference next week.
Eddie said that AJ signed a contract that explicitly precludes Dana's involvement in the fight. The problem is that Fury says his version of the contract contains no such provision.
It strikes me that AJ's strenuous objection to Dana's involvement is less about his ego - although his ego is not insubstantial - and more about a fight for business survival.
Since Dana came into boxing, he has used the wealth of his Saudi backers to set about destroying Eddie Hearn. He wants to get rid of all his competition, but he seems to have a particular hatred for Hearn, based, I suspect, on the fact that Eddie regularly stages successful independent promotions on American soil.
Saturday's fight at the Copperbox is a perfect illustration of this. Johnny Fisher is not the most gifted heavyweight - his ceiling is somewhere short of world level. But he is a massive ticket seller in Eddie's Essex backyard. Johnny's shows were very close to Eddie's heart, which is precisely why Dana swooped in with his chequebook.
Eddie risked his reputation to defend Conor Benn, when the welterweight was suspended over drugs allegations. Like Fisher, Conor is not a world level operator, but his closeness to Hearn made him a target for White.
The run-up to the fight seems more about the promoters than the fighters themselves. It really is time for the businessmen to take a back seat and let the fighters dominate the headlines.
