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Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is in the United States promoting his two newly signed American fighters, Regis Prograis and Edgar Berlanga, and while he’s been here, he’s faced some criticism from other American promoters.
Over the weekend, Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya fired shots at Hearn and told him to return to the U.K. after the Regis Prograis-Danielito Zorrilla fight.
Another shity card from @EddieHearn in the US 😂 go back to the UK and watch another fight of the year candidate July 8 @VergilOrtiz vs @E_Stanionis
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) June 18, 2023
Like @BobArum said, @EddieHearn has no clue what he’s doing in the US. I’ve been promoting for 20 years and will promote for another 40.
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) June 18, 2023
We spoke to Hearn ahead of this weekend’s Berlanga-Quigley fight on Saturday, and he’s what he had to say about De La Hoya’s comments.
“Yeah, he’s he’s obviously taking his eye off the ball. He’s worried about me. You know, he’s losing these fighters. Obviously, he’s got the biggest fight of his career coming up in the courtroom with Ryan Garcia, I like Oscar, you know, I’ve got nothing against him. He’s a little bit crazy. I hope he can find some happiness. He’s one of my favorite fighters, but he seems to, you know, have this strange attraction to me where he talks about me all the time.
I guess it’s good for my profile. You know, I’m just a promoter from the UK coming out and making waves. And if a pound for pound. Great. And keep talking about me, I guess it’s good for business.”
De La Hoya isn’t the only U.S. promoter to criticize Hearn, earlier this year Top Rank’s Bob Arum also fired shots at him.
“They don’t want me here. You know, I’m just a guy from the UK coming over. I mean, we’re (Matchroom Boxing) the only global promotional company in the world, and America is a big market. We’re doing 12 to 16 shows here. We’ve done the biggest shows here consistently over the last few years with Canelo Alvarez and Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano and Bivol and everybody.
So I think we’re in a great place. We’re delivering great value for fights on DAZN. And, you know, for me it’s important to keep moving. Oscar De La Hoya, Bob Arum, PBC None of them want me here but I guess it’s flattering”