Matchroom Boxing Promoter Eddie Hearn gave a lengthy interview Friday to DAZN, where he repeatedly promised that his strong company won't lose out on fighters etc. to new American based Zuffa Boxing
In a wide ranging interview Friday in Arizona, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn made clear that even though newly started Zuffa Boxing has strong financial backing attempting to lure their fighters away, etc., they're ready to compete.
Hearn spoke with DAZN's Chris Mannix on the eve of the Matchroom promoted unified junior lightweight title fight between Mexicans, WBO champ Emanuel Navarrete and IBF 130 lb. titleholder Eduardo "Sugar" Nunez.
Mannix immediately turned to the shocking turn of controversial British welterweight Conor Benn having bolted Matchroom sign a deal with Turki Alashikh (the main money behind the new start up promotion) and Zuffa Boxing. Alashikh announced earlier this week that Benn will appear on his Ring Magazine card April 11th in North London and on Netflix.
Mannix asked if Hearn felt like by Zuffa trying to "poach" their fighters that they were trying "take out" Matchroom as a major promotional player in the sport? Specifically, he wonder about his longtime fighter Benn leaving him, in a public humiliation for Hearn/Matchroom after they stood by Benn during a two year PED suspension/appeal and made two lucrative fights with British star Chris Eubank, Jr. last year.
"Well, it's unbelievably flattering...I think they recognize that we are the best out there- the way we run our business, the group as a whole. And, you know, we're up for the challenge.
"The beauty and the advantage we have is we are 'boxing people.' We understand the sport. We understand the fan base. We speak to the audience. We are the audience. We are fans ourselves.
These guys (Zuffa) want to come in and they think that boxing needs to be changed. They want to have complete control over the sport, which even I know was never possible.... Boxing just doesn't work like that."
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Hearn continued,
"For us, we're trying to make the best fights for our fans. We're trying to keep the tradition of this great sport. We're trying to make people understand the legacy of this great sport.
"The fact that belts are important. Champions do fight champions. People, the talent, the athlete do need to be respected."
Hearn is referencing that Zuffa wants to have their own fight league, where they control management of the fighters, their money that they make and for Zuffa to have it's own ranking system and titles.
The "push back" from promoters worldwide and the worldwide boxing organizations is that famous fighters want to be paid the most amount by the "fee market" and that the WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO world titles have meaning and are part of that.
Hearn finished up on the thoughts with DAZN,
"I'm smart enough to know these are powerful people... It's gonna be a good, clean, 'fight.'.... I don't think it's bad for boxing.... We have just signed a new five year deal with DAZN. We have a minimum of 30 shows a year. That's 150 shows. That means 'we're in a job.' You're (to Mannix) in a job. So we are all good and we just got to make sure that the product is good."