When tensions thawed between promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren several months ago, it almost seemed too good to be true.
The thought of Britain’s leading promoters working together to create big fights had been a pipedream for more than a decade.
Of course, all that time they had the opportunity to do it for the greater good, for boxing, for the fans, but ultimately it took the seemingly bottomless pit of financial resources in Saudi Arabia to turn enemies into friends with disarming rapidity.
And maybe it is still for the greater good of boxing, just with a few zeroes added onto the sentence discussing how it all came about.
Because make no mistake, Warren and Hearn were at daggers drawn for years. A whole cottage industry on YouTube mushroomed around their dislike for one another.
The feud infuriated boxing people who wanted to see Kal Yafai fight Sunny Edwards, Anthony Joshua fight Tyson Fury, Anthony Yarde fight Joshua Buatsi, Terry Flanagan versus Anthony Crolla, Conor Benn-Chris Jenkins and countless other cross-promotional, logical match-ups, but it played to an online crowd that spent years milking channels with views, clicks and likes on an almost weekly basis.
There are far too many to examine, but this is a flavour of the videos online that go back to around 2010, and there are dozens and dozens of ‘Hearn reacts to’, ‘Warren reacts to’ headlines.
10 years ago – Frank Warren explodes, Frank Warren on fire
Six years ago on FightHype – Frank Warren slams Eddie Hearn; Exposes ticket sale practices: “you’re fleecing the fans.’
Six years ago on FightHype: Eddie Hearn mocks Frank Warren; Gives levels comparison in response to claim they’re better.
Five years ago on Seconds Out – Frank Warren trashes Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua
Four years ago on IFL TV – Eddie Hearn doesn’t know s*** about boxing.
Four years ago – Eddie Hearn is a hypocrite
Four years ago on IFL – Who gives a s*** what you say?’ – Frank Warren on Hearn….
Three years ago – It is ridiculous, Frank Warren responds to Eddie Hearn
Two years ago on IFL: “Absolute B*****!!’ – Eddie Hearn hits back at Frank Warren & Tyson Fury.
Also two years ago, also on IFL, a Warren headline charged: “You spoilt kid! Frank Warren rages at Hearn’s claims about Fury….
Also two years ago, still on IFL, ‘Absolute rubbish!’ – Eddie Hearn slams ‘terrible’ Fury v Whyte PPV buys, Frank Warren…
A year ago on Seconds Out – ‘Load of Bullsh*t!’ – Frank Warren blasts Hearn…
Eleven months ago, Hearn was on Seconds Out, claiming, ‘Its F******* Bullsh*t, Eddie Hearn Fires Back @ Frank Warren.
Also 11 months ago on IFL – You fannies are full of s*** – Frank Warren rages at Joshua & Hearn
Nine months ago, on an IFL interview, ‘Eddie Hearn tears apart Tyson Fury & Frank
Warren’.
Eight months ago via IFL: ‘He is f****** mental’ – Eddie Hearn hits back at Frank Warren.
Seven months ago on Boxing Social, ‘Eddie Hearn FIRES BACK at Frank Warren.’
Seven months ago, also on Boxing Social: ‘All you do is talk about me! – Eddie Hearn blasts Tyson Fury & Frank Warren.’
The feud allowed a peculiar boom where the promoters became better-known than many of their fighters, and viewers would wait for the next “fires back”, with Hearn’s Matchroom counterpart Frank Smith taking and dishing out plenty with Warren, too.
The vendetta was unsavoury if interesting to a degree, and it was finally made relevant this year when there was news of an actual pay-off to the rivalry, on Saturday, June 1, in Riyadh, when they pit teams against one another in the 5 x 5 tournament, featuring boxers from both stables. At least there’s a blow off to the sound bites, the back and forth and who knows, maybe they will usher in a new era for the greater good with their new found appreciation for one another.
Now, amid many media set-pieces in recent weeks, joint appearances and face-offs and so forth, the videos have changed direction faster than a hiccup.
There’s even an Eddie Hearn vs. Frank Warren video of them playing Jenga, a game of Mr and Mr for TNT Sports, a game of Agree or Disagree on DAZN, and the titles of the videos are all the more agreeable.
‘Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn interviewed TOGETHER.’
‘Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren Interview: Old rivals open up on Riyadh Season, working together and more.’
‘Eddie, Barry and Me: Frank Warren walks us through his history with the Hearns.’
The clicks, likes and views might not be the same. It might be a relationship that only came when push came to financial shove and the almighty clout of Turki Alalashikh finally got them on the same page, but it’s happened. Finally.
This show is all about the fighters, really. Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang could produce crazy fireworks, Nick Ball has the chance to do what he fell just short of against Rey Vargas when he meets Raymond Ford, Craig Richards and Willy Hutchinson clash in an intriguing 175lbs fight, Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois fight for the right to face Anthony Joshua and Hamzah Sheeraz wants to tell the world he’s got the potential to be the new king at middleweight.
It would have been nice if Hearn and Warren had been able to get through their differences anyway, but they have now, and this could be the start of an unlikely boom time for British boxing, and with a Wembley date on tap for September, it could benefit the sport closer to home for Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry Promotions, too.
Now, on the eve of ‘settling their differences’, the irony is now that they are cast as enemies when, in fact, they have never been closer. As it’s often said, that’s boxing.
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