In this lengthy conversation with iFL TV, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn shares his opinion on Deontay Wilder’s latest announcement and ridicules the job Al Haymon and Shelly Finkel are doing for him, saying for them it’s become more personal than anything. Check out some excerpts below...
Hearn on the stalemate in Wilder-Joshua talks:
“For them it’s become not about the fighter, it’s become about the business. I mean if you listen to Shirley’s comments about ‘once Wilder knocks out Joshua, Matchroom’s empire is over.” What the fucks it got to do with Matchroom empire?! We’re only trying to make a fight...
“So it’s about Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder...you can’t advise someone, you can’t manage someone if you’re thinking about an organization or plotting the downfall of an organization. It’s irrelevant. I just about the fighters, don’t worry about me. Worry about getting a fight made.
“And by the way, on that comment, if Wilder knocking out Anthony Joshua ends the Matchroom empire, end the fuckin’ empire! Do it! Do it, end me!...Don’t just talk about it, do it...
“[Wilder’s decision] completely baffles me but the main thing is, the only pleasing thing to come out of this is the people are now seeing the truth. And when you look at the replies to [Wilder’s] posts and his posts about the fight, people are now starting to wise-up and say ‘fuck, he never wanted the fight all along.’ And you know what? The sad thing is I don’t even think it’s Deontay. He’s just being told what to do, or brainwashed into what to do...
“The hatred is so deep people are losing sight about what their jobs is. My job is to provide the best opportunities to my client. And I will not let any personal relationship, any grudge get in the way of that. Because to be honest with you, I don’t give a fuck! Do you think I lose one hour of sleep, one second of sleep, over Shirley Winkle and Al Haymon? They don’t mean nothing to me in my life. You know? What matters to me in my life is Anthony Joshua becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion...
“The difference between the Wilder relationship and the AJ relationship is AJ is my boss! Do you understand? He is my boss, whereas it’s the other way around — Al Haymon is Deontay’s boss...
“[Deontay’s] announced, by the looks of it, his next fight. We just keep trying. That’s all you can do. We just keep trying.”
On how accurate the reports were that DAZN offered Wilder $100M for three fights — one fight for Breazeale for $20M and two two fights with Joshua for $40M apiece:
“Pretty accurate. I mean it could’ve been more, but it certainly wasn’t less. It wasn’t less than that, no.
“You get to a stage where [Wilder] accepted, right, via email, $15M to fight AJ. Right? And then asked us to send a contract, which we did. Alright. He’s now been offered more than double that and — like, I can’t tell you — this wasn’t even close. Right? That was the first meeting between the representatives. It weren’t even ‘well, $5 or $10M out.’ It was just ‘go through the process and say no.’ That was it.
“It could’ve been $50M, it could’ve been $60M, it was totally irrelevant, mate. This ain’t happening. They can’t afford to let this happen. And that’s the sad thing about the sport of boxing. The sad thing — that this decision was not made by Deontay Wilder. This decision was made by people who maybe told him to make this decision. But this was made to protect people. And this was made — I won’t say what I was gonna say, because it might get me into trouble.
“Put it this way: there are acts in place in America, right, that are supposed to protect people from this. And that’s all I’m saying...
“If Showtime come up with an offer that DAZN can’t match, we can’t do it, no problem! Like the whole reason that AJ was left out of the Matchroom USA/DAZN deal was for reasons like this. He doesn’t have to make a decision based upon what network he’s on, in America...Can he box on another network? Yes.
“$20M to fight Dominic Breazeale?! I wanna say one thing as well — that fight was a 70/30 split. If PBC ain’t paying Dominic Breazeale his $6M or whatever it is, then what sort of job are they doing for him?! What have they talked Dominic Breazeale into taking for this fight? Because if it would’ve gone to purse bid, or if it would’ve gone to DAZN, Breazeale would’ve got $6M plus. What’s he getting [now]?...
“...you can’t be an advisor and basically just have to have your fighters box on one platform. That’s not an advisor, that’s a promoter. Right? Because my job is to keep my fighters on my platform. If I’m an advisor I do the best job for my client. It’s not about ‘fucking hell, we cannot afford to let Deontay get off FOX or Showtime.’ That’s not advising your client! That’s to the benefit of your organization. That’s what a promoter’s supposed to do...
“This is so deep. You’ve only got to listen to the comments Shelly, of Stephen Espinoza. This isn’t about the fight, this is about the politics and the business. And that is so sad because they’re stripping the opportunity away from Deontay Wilder to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world — for generational money, as he calls it. Generational wealth.”
On what he makes of Wilder-Breazeale not being on PPV:
“Pressure...I mean I’m presuming Deontay’s making $20M. Surely he’s not that much of an idiot where they’ve talked him into taking half or even less. Why? So if someone’s giving him $20M and Breazeale is getting his $6M, which he should be getting...then someone’s losing between $10 and $15M on this fight. So where’s it coming from? It’s not my business to know...
“I don’t have a problem with Showtime. I don’t have a problem with Wilder boxing on Showtime. But if you listen to people’s comments, it’s pure bitterness, where it should be about Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua. Not about ending Matchroom and Eddie Hearn’s empire...”
Hearn had plenty more to say on this whole Wilder-Joshua topic. Check out the full video interview above.