Eddie Hearn has spoken for the first time since the shocking news that Conor Benn has signed with Zuffa Boxing and Dana White.
It was announced on Friday evening that Benn had joined forces with the new promotional outfit, having spent all 10 years of his career to date with Hearn and Matchroom Boxing, ever since his debut back in 2016.
There have been a number of twists and turns during Benn’s relationship with Matchroom, notably the saga following his failed drugs test in late 2022, to his victory over Chris Eubank Jr in their rematch in November.
It seemed like Benn and Hearn would work together on a big fight following that win over Eubank, with the likes of Shakur Stevenson and Ryan Garcia mentioned as possible opponents, but ‘The Destroyer’ will now instead team up with Zuffa and White.
Hearn has now shared his reaction to IFL TV, admitting that he is ‘devastated’ about what has happened.
“I’ve known about this for a few days now. I received an email from Conor Benn’s lawyer to make me aware of it. I’m not going to sit here and hang Conor Benn out to dry, I’ll be honest with you, me personally, pretty devasted.
“I’ve had a few days to digest what might happen. Maybe this interview is different to what it would have been a couple of days ago, it’s not often you get shocked, I blame myself, because I forgot it was boxing.
“I just felt that the loyalty that we’ve shown would never ever put us in this position. I felt I never really needed to push Conor Benn to sign a new contract previously and I probably could have done. I blame myself, I made a mistake. I misjudged the character.”
Hearn then revealed that he reached out to Benn to discuss the situation, but that the British fighter was unwilling to chat.
“I’m not going to hang him out to dry, he will say it was a big offer. When I received the email from his lawyer, I text him and said ‘I think we should have a call. After everything I’ve done for you I think I deserve a call.’ He said no.
“I can’t believe it, I don’t know what to say other than I felt everything that we gave him, the loyalty that we gave him, the support we gave him would be enough to talk it through or get close to a number but there wasn’t the interest. Very surprising, very painful, but another moment in life you live and learn from.”
Benn’s next fight is set to be announced in due course, but it is clear that the relationship with Hearn will never be the same again.
