For more than a month, Eddie Hearn has returned to the same topic whenever Fury-Joshua is discussed: Dana White and Zuffa Boxing. His latest words were different.
Asked about a number of topics during the interview, Hearn repeatedly circled back to White, Zuffa Boxing, and who would eventually gain credit for staging the greatest fight in British boxing history.
“I don’t want to be quiet to be honest. I haven’t had this much fun since the Warren days,” Hearn said on iFL TV.
Hearn later made it clear that he was not interested in ending the feud.
Embracing Competition With Emphasis
“I don’t want to play nice and Dana doesn’t want to play nice. you want a fight with me and choose the right geyser because I hit it, a friend.”
He also suggested that the dispute has become a constant topic whenever White speaks publicly.
“Right now, every Dana White press conference is about Eddie Hearn.”
Hearn stressed that under the current deal, Dana White and TKO cannot promote Fury vs. Joshua said that the contract also specifies that the fight will take place in the United Kingdom. He added that any move to the United States or any promotional role for White would require a renegotiation of the existing agreement.
At the same time, Hearn admitted that he would be willing to discuss changes if they would benefit Anthony Joshua.
This is where the situation gets interesting.
On the other hand, Hearn says the focus is on delivering the fight Joshua wants. On the other hand, most of his public comments focused on White’s role, White’s boxing ambitions and the ongoing rivalry between Matchroom and Zuffa.
Defending Traditional Boxing Turf
The concern is understandable. If White ends up sticking with Fury-Joshua in a leading promotional role, it will give Zuffa Boxing instant credibility and another recruiting tool. in its attempt to attract elite fighters.
Hearn has seen Conor Benn fight under Zuffa, and Johnny Fisher recently revealed that he wants Matchroom to have a chance to match or come close to the request he received elsewhere. Hearn’s response was blunt, admitting that the numbers being discussed were more than Matchroom could handle for the level of opposition involved.
Those developments help explain why the topic of Dana White keeps coming up.
The biggest issue may not be Fury vs. Joshua himself. The big problem is what comes after. If Zuffa can get involved with major sporting events and continue to offer purses that traditional promoters struggle to match, boxing’s dynamics may begin to shift.
Fury-Joshua has not been signed for a place and a date. But judging by Hearn’s recent comments, his most persistent fight is not against Tyson Fury’s team.
With Dana White.
