Eddie Hearn scoffs at Dana White's claim he's already promoted 2 of the 3 biggest boxing matches in history
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Matchroom Boxing CEO Eddie Hearn promises he's not trying to engage in a war of words with the UFC's Dana White, but the two promoters have certainly been exchanging some verbal jabs lately.
In the leadup to Saturday's Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight, Hearn said he welcomed the challenge of having White enter the boxing world but didn't buy that he was somehow taking over with the launch of Zuffa Boxing. White fired back with a reminder that despite his relative naivety in boxing, he's already promoted two of the three biggest fights in history after working on Conor McGregor's showdown against Floyd Mayweather and now Canelo vs. Crawford.
But Hearn doesn't buy that claim, especially with the way he feels about Mayweather vs. McGregor.
"One of them was Mayweather-McGregor. That's not one of the biggest fights in the history of boxing," Hearn told IFL TV. "That's an exhibition fight as far as I'm concerned and Canelo vs. Crawford isn't even his fight. It's Turki Alalshikh's fight. He got invited to be the promoter."
The way White spoke about the "biggest" fights likely came down to profit and revenue with Mayweather's fight against Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather vs. McGregor delivering massive pay-per-view sales. Both fights sold over 4 million pay-per-views, which is far and away the biggest in combat sports history.
As for Canelo vs. Crawford, White was invited to serve as the promoter for the event as he continues to strengthen his relationship with Alalshikh, who is financially backing Zuffa Boxing through the Saudi Arabia General Entertainment fund.
Despite his disagreements with how White is portraying himself as a successful boxing promoter already, Hearn maintains that he's not trying to get drawn into an ugly battle with White even if they are on opposites sides when it comes to the boxing business.
"As I said, I don't think we're going to be going backwards and forwards," Hearn said. "He also said he respects me and he likes me a lot and the feeling is very mutual.
"I saw in an interview he said 'Eddie Hearn said [his new promotion] won't work.' I never said that. I said I think the league can work but I don't think he's anything different. I don't think he's going to revolutionize the sport. So yeah, I look forward to the challenge."
