Eddie Hearn has hit back at Dana White’s most recent dig as the war of words between the two men continues.
Matchroom chief Hearn and UFC CEO White had been on good terms prior to White’s entry into boxing, but the pair have gone back and forth in recent weeks after Zuffa began staging their own events.
During a press conference on Sunday following his third fight night, White claimed the Matchroom chairman has no vision and was simply just working for his father, Barry Hearn, who started the company back in 1982.
Whilst speaking to The Stomping Ground, Eddie has now had his say, first responding to White’s suggestion that he lacks foresight.
“It’s very strange because I’ve got to be honest with you, I wouldn’t say up my ar**, but Dana has always been so complimentary about us a company and me as a promoter, but to say I don’t have any vision is really quite strange.
“Right now when you talk about Zuffa or whatever it’s called, when you talk about their vision, what’s their vision? Getting Max Kellerman to tell everyone that Callum Walsh is the next Roy Jones or putting Charles Martin on a headline show on a Sunday night in front of 126 people in your garage on a ring that looks like you’ve just got it out of a local club show. I mean, what sort of f**king vision is that?
“Or better still, here’s a belt and it’s Zuffa, look at the vision. That’s not vision, that’s control. The reality is, when he says we can’t compete, they can’t compete in this cut throat world of boxing because it’s a horrible world and they don’t want to compete. They want to create their own world.”
Hearn then compared his own events to that of Zuffa’s, delivering a damning verdict on what White has produced so far.
“At the moment, when you compare Matchroom shows to Zuffa show, quite frankly, Zuffa shows are absolute complete dogs**t. They’re going to get better and they’re going to sign some big fighters and spunk some money and waste some money.
“I’ve said it before, they’re clever people, but right now they’re trying to manipulate fight fans and they don’t understand how intelligent fight fans are when it comes to boxing. You can’t create these cards and tell everyone it’s the best vs the best because quite frankly it’s not.”
The British promoter, who promoted his first major card in 2011, finished by addressing the comments made by White earlier in the week about Eddie just working for his father, Barry.
“The reality is yes, I do work for my dad. But guess what? Dana White has worked for his daddy for a long time, the Fertitta Brothers. That’s who he worked for, and right now, Dana White has got a new daddy, and his name is Turki Alalshikh. He is Dana White’s papi.
“It took him a nanosecond to get personal, and that’s because right now he’s at the bottom of the pile in terms of quality as a boxing promoter but as I keep saying, they’re a good operation and they will get better.”
It certainly appears that any hopes of seeing the two men reconcile are quickly fading, and it shouldn’t take White long to respond to the latest comments from Hearn.
