Eddie Hearn isn’t selling a fight between himself and Dana White short, even if White isn’t as convinced.
The feud between Hearn, chairman of Matchroom Boxing, and White, UFC CEO, continues to build following the two butting heads on the business end, with White signing Hearn’s boxer Conor Benn, and Hearn countering by signing UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall to a management deal.
They’ve reached the point where they’ve actually spoken about fighting each other, with Hearn calling it “the biggest fight out there right now.” Hearn spoke about White’s reluctance to accept the offer at the Ben Whittaker vs. Braian Suarez post-fight press conference in Liverpool, England on Saturday.
“Now, I’m pretty useless, but I can fight a little bit,” Hearn said. “He is also useless, but he can fight a little bit. He may have better ability and movement than me and I might get knocked out, but I would definitely be willing to do it. So when he called me out and he keeps calling me a p*ssy, right? I just said, ‘Listen, p*ssy, if I’m a p*ssy, come and show me I’m a p*ssy.’ So you called me out for a fight? I accept. And now he’s going, ‘Well, I’m 57 years old.’ I said, ‘No, you told me you wouldn’t do it and I’m a p*ssy, so what are you? An old p*ssy?
“Listen, it’s good fun, isn’t it? But I would genuinely do it.”
Hearn maintains that a novelty bout between him and White would not only settle their beef, it would put tens of millions in both of their bank accounts if done right.
“I know the numbers,” Hearn said. “I know the business. I know the numbers it does and it’s huge. So the only thing that can stop the fight happening is Dana White.”
“Do you not think we’d sell out the O2?” he added. “Do you not think we’d do over a million buys, globally? Don’t forget, he is big name. Some may say bigger than me. I don’t know, but certainly in America. So we’ve got the American audience, we’ve got the U.K. audience, can you imagine how I would sell this show?”
White also spoke to reporters Saturday following a UFC event in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He still thinks Hearn is being ridiculous over actually wanting to fight and even more so when discussing the fantasy bout’s potential success.
“Listen, Eddie says a lot of dumb shit,” White said. “I’m getting used to it. Eddie said me and him are the biggest fight in boxing. Therein lies the problem with boxing. And the fact that a fight promoter who’s actually put on big fights and had a stable of big fighters would say something that f*cking stupid is starting to not be as shocking as it was in the beginning.
“You’re a f*cking bum. I’m old. And we don’t even deserve to be on the card with a bunch of real fighters.”
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