Eddie Hearn and Derek Chisora aired out some differences this week as the pair came face-to-face at a media event.
Hearn was being interviewed on the red carpet of the Anthony Joshua versus Jermaine Franklin launch party by Boxing UK when Chisora gatecrashed the interview.
The conversation started about Lawrence Okolie and Hearn’s recent split with him. The WBO Cruiserweight Champion partnered up with rivals BOXXER and Sky Sports recently.
What followed was a bitter back and forth, in which the promoter has been called ‘malicious, bitter and jealous.’ Hearn has defended the job he did for Okolie whilst claiming he lost money doing it.
Chisora asked the promoter ‘why is it about commercial value to you?’ to which Hearn told him fighters must be marketable because broadcasters ‘are willing to pay the numbers because of viewership and subscription.’
The conversation moved onto Hearn’s link up with DAZN, with Chisora claiming it saw him stop spending money on fighters.
“When you left Sky, I remember you saying you had this big massive budget you were going to be spending on fighters, and when fighters followed you to DAZN, you stopped spending money on them … I didn’t get some of that.”
Hearn said it was untrue, and corrected Chisora when he said his fights on DAZN (Joseph Parker and Kubrat Pulev) were blockbusters. The promoter then took offence at past comments from ‘Del Boy.’
“I’ll tell you what I don’t like about you. I don’t like it when you say silly things about people that care about you and treated you well … I would never say that about you because I like you.”
“You know in the business that we are the ones that always do what we say.”
It all ended cordially, with Chisora agreeing that Matchroom were the route to take for fighters who wanted to be ‘paid on time.’
It’s unclear whether the Finchley fan-favourite heavyweight will be returning to the ring, under Hearn or otherwise.
He has teased announcements to that theory since his loss to Tyson Fury in December, however a recent involvement on the promotional side of things in Saudi Arabia has since taken over.