Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren interview: ‘Let’s not f*** this up’
Listening to Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren bounce off each other it is easy to forget they were sworn enemies until around 18 months ago.
That was when Saudi sports impresario Turki Alalshikh essentially instructed Britain’s two biggest boxing promoters to bury the hatchet if they wanted to keep staging lucrative fights at his expense in the Middle East and back home.
Hearn tells City AM: “There was definitely a reluctance when it started, it wasn’t just, ‘come on, give us a cuddle’. We were told, really, ‘look, if you want opportunities with us, shut up you two, let’s get on with it together’.
“And I remember saying the words ‘let’s not muck this up’.” “With an F,” interjects Warren. “Since we did it, we’ve not really looked back,” says Hearn.
Those who know them insist the affection is genuine, that in private they are a compelling and often funny double act.
Their stables, Matchroom and Queensberry, now have another bond after Warren joined Hearn in signing an exclusive deal with Dazn. It means every Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois, Tyson Fury or Katie Taylor fight will be on the sports streaming platform.
“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to be trying to outdo each other on Dazn,” says Warren. “One of us wants to be the top dog.
“Queensberry and Matchroom are the best two promoters. I think we’re the better one, he thinks he’s the better one, and we’ll see. In the meantime, I hope we keep this relationship because we’re sensible and there’s a lot of respect for me towards Eddie.”
Warren: Boxing is treated as a bastard sport
Both agree that the industry they have done more to build in this country than perhaps anyone else in the 21st century does not get the credit that it deserves.
Hearn says it is still seen as “a second class sport”, while Warren goes further: “Boxing is treated as a bastard sport, which it’s not. At its best, it’s the most noble of sports.”
He continues: “The biggest venue in the UK, Wembley – both of us have filled it up. Both of us have broken box office records – not for boxing, but for any events to take place there over the years.
“And that’s been great for London – being seen around the world, tourists coming, people coming into town, spending money. Nobody looks at that side of it.”
Government does not recognise the contribution boxing makes at community level and in Olympic medals, compared with the likes of “water polo, lots of niche sports that get more money than boxing gets”, says Warren.
Adds Hearn: “I don’t think we talk about the drama, the size, the scope, the impact, the profile. It’s just always, ‘oh it’s boxing’.”
Hearn: Boxing will drive White and TKO bonkers
They are not totally aligned on all of their messaging, however. While Hearn, 45, adopts a slightly combative tone on the entry of UFC boss Dana White and TKO Holdings into the sport – also benefiting from the largesse of Alalshikh and therefore a potential threat to key funding – Warren, the elder statesman at 73, is more diplomatic.
“Dana’s built a business based on control and making sure you’ve got the athletes signed up to a plan where basically he can direct it as he wishes,” says Hearn.
“You can never control boxing because at times I think it’s out of control, and I don’t know if he’s going to want to run that type of business. I think it’ll drive him bonkers, absolutely bonkers.”
Says Warren: “I don’t think the business is out of control. I think the business has options. It’s evolving, it keeps changing, but the most important thing for us is we focus on what we’re doing, both of us.
“Dana’s going to come in. He’s got some great ideas. He’s a great promoter. There’s a lot of moving parts in that, and there’s a lot of discussion and decisions to be made.”