Eddie Hearn says working with Frank Warren in ‘one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done in boxing’

Promoter Eddie Hearn says the working relationship he has recently built with Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren is a career highlight.

The two were at loggerheads for more than a decade, taking turns to speak out against one another, often via YouTube outlets that all-but ran on “Frank said…” and “Eddie said…”

Now, under the Riyadh Season umbrella they have often worked together and, in June, pitted five fighters in a stable vs. stable 5 vs. 5 event that got the boxing world talking for the right reasons.

It has not always been like that for Hearn in the boxing world, and he still has his competitors now. Nakisa Bidarian and Oscar De La Hoya will not be on Hearn’s Christmas card list, although he is talking with Bidarian to make Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano III.

“Sometimes you meet people and spend time with them… It’s like having a relationship with Warren. I met Ben Shalom on Tuesday night, when you actually sit down with people… [and it’s] versus IFL [TV] ‘he said that, he said that,’ do you know what I mean? It creates a rift. So now, I’m actually enjoying working with Frank. Like, it’s probably one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done in boxing.”

However, Hearn is also aware of his perception in America, and not everyone is aligned with his thinking or his methods. 

“I think, at the end of the day, I’m very outspoken,” he said. “I think one of the problems is that Americans don’t really understand Brits’ sarcasm. So sometimes the sense of humour gets lost in translation. It’s all part of the game. I actually said to Nakisa the other day, ‘What you did for the Netflix show [Tyson-Paul] was incredible.’ It’s not like I won’t compliment people. But the Mike Tyson fight, for example. That was a good example where I just didn’t like it. And you know how many interviews I do. I was just saying I don’t like the fight. I’m not going to say I do like the fight. Nakisa said to me, ‘You said you don’t like the fight.’ I said, ‘I don’t. But I’m telling you and telling every interview, what you’ve done is incredible.’”

Will Hearn soon be working with Shalom as seamlessly as he is with Warren? Thus far, Warren and Hearn have formed a strong alliance, but Shalom is not in the inner circle.

“He’s young, he’s inexperienced,” said Hearn. “Everyone was at one stage. I’ve been there, I’ve had loads of shit, and you just become immune to everything. At the moment… it’s him against the world. People are slagging him off and he’s like ‘Fuck.’ But that’s actually what comes with it. It’s actually a good sign.”