PROMOTER Eddie Hearn rarely has a quiet day. But the last few weeks have been as tumultuous as they come. He took over from his father Barry as chairman of the Matchroom Sport group, came close to making the Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury megafight, only to see that fall apart. He did stage Canelo Alvarez vs Billy Joe Saunders in Texas, during a pandemic, with a US boxing attendance record. He agreed a landmark deal with DAZN in the UK, a major break for Matchroom as they leave long time broadcast partner Sky and he has just announced a new deal in partnership with Canelo and DAZN for a series of shows in Mexico.
โItโs been a great month but people always want blood,โ he tells Boxing News. โIโm talking about fans, Iโm talking about broadcasters, Iโm talking about sponsors.
โItโs part and parcel but you never really get the time to reflect โฆ because itโs on to the next one.โ
โMy biggest weakness is never really living in the moment or accepting achievement. I play a trick on myself a little bit. I donโt want to big myself up, selfishly because it will make me complacent. So I kind of undersell myself to myself, this is quite deep and weird but this what I do,โ Hearn continued. โPeople wrote us off in America. No one let us in. Then we signed Canelo. We done that, Iโm still like; now weโve got to do the undisputed [fight], now weโve got to move to another market, now weโve got to do this.
โThatโs just the drive of saying yes youโre never happy but you also want more. Want more. Itโs not even financial. Itโs just you want to break more boundaries. You want more success. You want to do better.โ
The move into Mexico is part of Matchroomโs plan for global expansion. โNo oneโs promoting globally. Weโre the only promotional company that are promoting events globally in different markets,โ Hearn said. โDAZN are looking to break into the Mexican market but also the content there will be of huge interest our American subscribers as well and itโs additional shows for our UK subscribers. They get that content as well. DAZN UK customers are going to get 16 UK shows, probably 10 US shows, four Italian, four Spanish, six Mexican a year. Then thereโll be Australia, then thereโll be Canada. Youโll build a global schedule where there will be a show every week from a different major city around the world. Thatโs the thing weโve always dreamed, having that almost internal circuit like the UFC. Thatโs how thatโs going to be built.โ
Canelo himself is key to that growth. โThat partnership has really helped Matchroom grow because heโs the biggest star by a mile in America. Heโs got such a huge fan base. Itโs funny when people say whoโs the easiest fighter you deal with in boxing, number one is Anthony Joshua and joint number one Canelo Alvarez, unbelievable,โ the promoter said. โMe, Canelo and Eddy Reynoso, taking big time boxing back to Mexico with DAZN. Itโs a multi-year deal, four fights in the next six months, non-stop fights and action and thatโs coming after the UK announcement.
โOur first show will be at the end of June in Guadalajara and itโs like the whole thing is built off the search for the new Canelo. But the talent is there.โ
For Canelo himself the target is a bout with Caleb Plant for the undisputed super-middleweight crown in September. Given Alvarezโs importance to DAZN and now to Matchroom it would be understandable if they were desperate to secure that fight for their platform. But Hearn insists any promotional allegiance wonโt be a problem when it comes to securing a deal with Plant.
โWeโll do everything we can to get it on DAZN but it doesnโt have to be on DAZN. Thatโs the beauty of being a free agent,โ the promoter said. โWhen youโre that size [like Canelo] you donโt necessarily have to sign a long term broadcast deal because things change.
โAll Canelo wants to do is fight Caleb Plant. Now if that fight canโt happen on DAZN, he can do it on Fox, he can do it on ESPN. If he wanted to fight [Edgar] Berlanga he could do it with Top Rank. His last three fights have been on DAZN because theyโve been two DAZN fighters in Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith and [Avni] Yildirim, who was just a mandatory.
โHeโs asked me to promote his next fight, secure the deal, we have no problem with [going elsewhere]. It doesnโt even have to be a Matchroom show. Our job is to promote Canelo Alvarez and look after his best interests. Of course weโd love to be the host promoter but whatever it takes to deliver him this opportunity.โ
Now Hearn is chair of Matchroom, he has their other sports under his remit. โI canโt remember the last time I woke up in the morning and didnโt have bad news on my phone. โHeโs out.โ โHeโs failed a Covid test.โ โHeโs reneged on a deal. โHeโs injured.โ โHeโs failed a drug test.โ โThe venueโs shut down.โ Every single day. After a while you say to yourself how long do I want to do it for?โ Eddie explained. โTo want to be in the business at that level is a borderline illness… Theyโre addicted to boxing, to the business, to trying to win. Theyโre competitorsโ
But boxing is hard to leave behind. โFrank [Smith] now is taking more responsibility within the boxing business because Iโm now chairman of the group,โ the promoter continued. โFrankโs an amazing operator. Levels above me, in terms of operating. He canโt sell like me. But heโs been doing this since he was 15 and heโs done everything, from health and safety to international TV contracts, fighter contracts, to governing bodies. Everything.โ
โItโs quite funny seeing him have to deal with trainers, managers. And Iโm laughing at him because he looks like heโs aged five years in the last month. But he has to start taking it on. Because I canโt do it forever and I will be moving and migrating more into other sports. But the reality is I love boxing,โ he adds. โWeโre all addicted.
โTo boxing, we love it.โ