Eddie Hearn passionately defended Matchroom’s matchmaking after watching Marc Castro and Jalil Hackett so unexpectedly record their first defeats, at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday evening.
The lightweight Castro and the welterweight Hackett respectively lost via split decision to Agustin Ezequiel Quintana and Jose Roman Vazquez on the undercard of Liam Paro-Richardson Hitchins, and instead of attempting to question the scoring – as has perhaps come to be expected of those in his position – the promoter questioned his fighters’ ability.
A perceived lack of experience, in comparison with his rivals Frank Warren, Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum, had previously been claimed by Hearn’s critics.
The son of the hall-of-fame promoter Barry, however – speaking a week after watching Galal Yafai reap the rewards of being matched with Sunny Edwards in only his ninth fight, and yet months after watching all five of Matchroom’s fighters lose to those of Queensberry Promotions in the promotion built on his long-term rivalry with Warren – insists that there is little wrong with how Matchroom are guiding fighters’ careers.
“If you can’t beat those guys, you’re not the fighter I thought you are, and if you lose tonight it’s not the end of the road for you,” Hearn told IFL TV. “You’ve got to rebuild, and you’ve got to come back better.
“If you don’t want to watch competitive fights – if you don’t want to see prospects tested just a little bit, when they’re 8-1 on – fuck off and don’t watch my shows, because I’m going to give you real fights, and I’m going to give you entertainment, and guess what? Sometimes, when people underperform, or they’re not good enough, they’re going to lose. Not every prospect is going to go on and be a world champion, but if you spoon-feed them and never put them in anything competitive, one, it’s a shit product, two, it’s a con for the fans, and three, you’re not doing the right job for the fighter, because when they get to the top they’re not going to be good enough.
“Julian Williams, same thing for him. ‘Bad night for Eddie Hearn…’. Not really. Eddie Hearn found out that tonight they ain’t good enough. ‘That’s a bit harsh.’ Mate, you want me to keep it real for you? Marc Castro, you were not good enough tonight. If you perform like that you are not going to be a world champion or reach that level. Jalil Hackett, if you don’t make weight professionally, you are not going to beat guys like that who you should be strolling through. Facts. Grow a fucking set and stop fucking mincing around the subject and be real with people.
“Sport – you get beat when you’re not good enough. You don’t just make match-ups that are shit, where you can’t lose. It’s shit. It’s shit for the sport, and it’s shit for the prospect.”
That Castro is 25 years old and Hackett 21 is a reflection of the potential for them to be rebuilt. Hearn regardless chose to focus on the success of Hitchins, who dethroned Paro as IBF junior-welterweight champion in the main event in San Juan.
“What about Richardson Hitchins, who was out on the fucking street after Mayweather Promotions wouldn’t give him a fight, and I took him, I built him, I got him to headline, I got him to mandatory position, and he become world champion?” he continued. “You wanna say how Matchroom brought him through to do that? No, you don’t, because you want to criticise.”
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