Eddie-Hearn-chairman-of-Matchroom-Sport
Joel Angel Juarez/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
Carbonatix Pre-Player Loader
Audio By Carbonatix
UFC President Dana White thinks he can fix boxing. He says he wants to turn it into “an NBA or an NFL.” Eddie Hearn, one of the most well-known current boxing promoters, isn’t buying it.
Hearn, who has promoted fights involving Anthony Joshua, Canelo Alvarez, and Wladimir Klitschko, and co-promoted the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fights, told The Stomping Ground podcast that while he respects Dana White, he would love to “go head-to-head with him” and prove he is “much better” as a boxing promoter.
“Listen, what I will tell you is you’re not going to see me slagging off Dana White, not because I don’t want to upset him, because I respect him and I have a good relationship with him,” Heard said. “The one thing that I would really like at this point in my career is to go head-to-head with him and to take him on. I want to compete against Dana White. I want to prove that I’m much better than him as a boxing promoter. So, I’m excited for him to come into the space. That doesn’t mean we’re going to fall out, by the way.
“Competition’s fantastic, but you’re not going to come into boxing and steamroll the game. It’s not going to happen. But we can get on, we can work together, but ultimately, it depends how they’re going to maneuver. Everybody is a competitor to us in the sport, but a lot of those competitors are friends and a lot of those competitors we work with for the benefit of our business, our fighters and the sport and that hopefully will be the same with Dana, but let’s see how it plays out.”
Dana White responds to Eddie Hearn’s challenge
It didn’t take Dana White long to respond, telling Jim Rome, “My guy, Eddie Hearn, whom I love and I respect him and I saw him today. He’s out there talking smack, he’s like, ‘Dana is wrong, he can’t do this, and what’s he doing that’s different, everyone is doing the same thing and I look forward to competing against him to prove I’m the best boxing promoter in the world.’
“I look forward to it, too, Eddie. I can’t wait. I love this stuff. And all you boxing guys out there who want to talk smack, three of the biggest fights in history, Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, Mayweather vs. McGregor, and now Canelo vs. Crawford, I’ve been part of two of the three biggest fights in boxing, so suck on that boys!”