You have to admit that it’s a pretty good time to be a boxing fan these days.
When I wondered at first how the sport would move on with the retirement of Floyd Mayweather, the biggest star the sport has seen in years, you can’t deny that there’s a lot of competition going on these days, both in and out of the ring.
UK promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom boxing recently made huge waves when it was revealed he had worked out a lucrative deal, rumored to be in the excess of $1 billion over the course of possibly eight years, with streaming service DAZN.
Upon its announcement, Hearn got busy by signing such champions and contenders as Jessie Vargas, Demetrius Andrade, Maurice Hooker, Daniel Roman, Tevin Farmer, and recently Oleksandr Uysk. Those signings alone are full of talent and give hope to what Hearn has promised for the future.
It’s definitely a wide open market, but there has also been a little bit of backlash, as some where expecting Hearn to perhaps sign some bigger names, as he openly had/has expressed interest in the likes of Mikey Garcia, Errol Spence Jr., the Charlie brothers, Adrien Broner, Manny Pacquiao and others.
One problem for Hearn is that most of those mentioned fighters are aligned with powerful advisor Al Harmon, and their loyalty to him has always been strong. Haymon fighters are notorious for staying loyal to Al while also cutting some nice paydays. And this has been going on years before anyone in boxing knew of DAZN.
Haymon recently finalized two, multi-year deals with both SHOWTIME and Fox to showcase his upcoming talent, and the dates and exposure he will be able to offer his fighters is of course substantial. Hearn, meanwhile, can’t help but see things differently, as he wonders why some of Haymon’s fighters have been inactive in recent years, something he would hope to change with his new platform.
Speaking to FightHype.com recently, Hearn began to open up on Haymon’s roster of talent.
“Listen, I see a lot of U.S. fighters at the moment who think it’s acceptable to box once a year, where while you’re waiting a show you might get a bit more money,” Hearn said. “You might get a bag of cash, you might get a couple of necklaces, and it’s all alright. It’s not!”
On Sep. 8, inside of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Shawn Porter beat Danny Garcia in a fine fight. Present at the event were fighters connected to Haymon, such as Gervonta Davis, Broner, the Charlos, Spence, Jarret Hurd, and others. Hearn couldn’t help but notice how some of those fighters were busy indulging in all of the hype.
“That’s not how you build a career,” said Hearn of the inactivity. “It’s not how you build a profile. That’s not how you improve as a fighter. You know, I look at a lot of those guys, I mean it was hilarious watching all of them on Saturday, drunk and going around the Barclays.
“But I also looked at it and said ‘What sort of image is this for young fighters to be portraying?’” Hearn also said. “You’re just running wild in the Barclays, drinking and shouting and you got all chains around you going ‘I’m only fighting once a year but I don’t care because f*cking I got money!’ That ain’t what it’s about!”
Hearn points to the signing of one of his recent athletes, IBF junior lightweight champion Tevin Farmer, and eyes what he has planned for him.
“So you look at clever fighters like Tevin Farmer, who, if he wins on Oct. 20, he’ll probably box on December 8th or 15th,” said Hearn. “He’s making a lot of money and he’s improving as a fighter. You look at the other guys, Gervonta Davis boxed once this year. He ain’t fighting in December, you see the size of him?! And I love Gervonta Davis, I think he’s unbelievable and I like him as a person.”
So too have we no official word on the next fights for either Charlo or Spence, who had particularly been vocal about fighting three times this year.
“You know, the Charlos or those kind,” said Hearn. “‘Yeah, date coming soon, December!’ That’s what Errol Spence said when he boxed Kell Brook in May. Next thing it’s January or February. So, you know, we’ll see. We’ll see. But we just gotta keep doing our thing. And one thing we’re guaranteeing fighters is activity. No bullsh*t.”
Sounds like things are heating up.
