Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn and his promotional rival, UFC boss Dana White, could throw hands in a fully-sanctioned fist-fight providing the money was right.
And Hearn, who just revealed his number, said financial backers are getting close.
“We’ve had a couple of offers,” Hearn confirmed to Fight Hub this week.
Scrapping in front of a global audience is a far cry from the cordial relationship White and Hearn once had, when the UFC boss stuck to mixed martial arts and other, non-boxing disciplines. Hearn even visited the UFC’s Performance Institute through the years, commented favorably to Boxing Social about Dana, and White, too, told us he was happy Matchroom promoted events in Abu Dhabi (following the UFC’s relationship with that region) because he liked seeing “good things happen to good people.”
That all changed when White launched Zuffa Boxing and appeared to come in guns blazing. Hearn, in response, appeared motivated to defend his turn.
Now, they’re receiving offers to fight in the ring, not just from boardrooms.
“We had Kalle [Sauerland] the other day — they started at $10 million,” said Hearn. “Obviously, that’s going up. I think we’re at $20 million now, from someone else.”
He then revealed the figure he’d accept.
“I’ve said $30 million, which I think is the right number given the money it’ll generate.”
— Eddie Hearn
Hearn continued: “To be honest, I never thought it would be possible. But he called me out on The Piers Morgan Show for a fight, and I thought that would be amazing.”
“I would love to take part in a camp,” he said. “The fight would be … I’ve had a lot of trainers, and a lot of friends who are trainers. I’m pretty useless, but I’m not like some random YouTuber who can’t fight. I think it would be a decent fight, not terrible to watch.
“He keeps calling me a p****, come and see if I’m a p****. I’m ready. If he wants to fight, I’ll fight.”
Though seemingly not a part of any Matchroom show, it appears Misfits Pro, at least, is interested in hosting the fight. White is yet to comment.