Eddie Hearn has revealed the three names he’d want alongside him if he got into a street fight.
The Matchroom head was asked the question during fight week of Dalton Smith’s vacant British super-lightweight title clash against Sam O’Maison.
And Hearn took to social media to talk about the latest news surrounding his Matchroom stable ahead of their latest fight night.
During an Instagram Live on Monday afternoon, Hearn was asked by a viewer who he would have beside him if it went off “on the cobbles” and he issued some predictable names.
“I’ll give you three.
“Carl Froch, Tony Bellew and Dillian Whyte.”
Froch headlined one of Hearn’s first shows as a promoter, in May 2012, at the Nottingham Arena. He dropped and stopped Lucian Bute inside five rounds as he dethroned the IBF super-middleweight champion who had a nine-fight reign as the custodian of the red, white and gold belt.
Hearn famously jumped into the ring that night, prior to the fight being waved off, and went on to have a sensational run with ‘The Cobra’ which included a pair of clashes against George Groves – the latter of which saw 80,000 pack into Wembley Stadium – as well as a rematch against Mikkel Kessler and a routine third-round KO defence against Yusuf Mack.
Bellew never had a contract with Hearn, who he began dealing with after his fallout with Frank Warren, but the promoter will always say he had some of his best nights to date while at ringside watching the “mouthy” Scouser.
‘Bomber’s’ relationship with Brentwood-born Hearn began back in April 2012 as he stopped Danny McIntosh inside five rounds at the then-ECHO Arena in his home city to capture the vacant British light-heavyweight crown.
Fringe titles and a pair of forgettable fights against Isaac Chilemba followed before the challenge of the feared Adonis Stevenson. Travelling to Canada to take on the WBC champion, Bellew always credits referee Michael Griffin for “saving my life” that night, but bigger and better was to come.
Bellew moved up to cruiserweight and won global honours, stopping Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park, the home of his football club Everton. Down in the first, he rallied back to stop the Congolese puncher in the third round. Quick defence against BJ Flores was next and then it was the big bucks.
David Haye, a pal of Flores’, was ringside in October 2016 and it was just five months later that the pair were in the ring together at the O2 Arena in London.
It ended early, though not as early as everyone expected after former cruiserweight champion Haye ruptured his achilles tendon in the sixth round. He bravely battled on but was stopped by referee Phil Edwards in the penultimate round of 12.
A money-spinning rematch came 14 months later and Haye was dropped three times before Bellew finished proceedings in the fifth.
But it was the Liverpudlian himself who suffered a conclusive end to his professional career, stepping back down from heavyweight to take on Oleksandr Usyk – the current WBA Super, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion who takes on Anthony Joshua in a rematch later this month at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia after taking away his belts last September at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London – for the undisputed title at cruiserweight, with the IBF, WBC, WBA Super and WBO belts on the line.
Usyk struggled early on before ultimately getting to Bellew and icing him against the ropes in the eighth of 12 scheduled rounds at Manchester Arena.
And the final name mentioned by Hearn was that of Dillian Whyte, the former British and WBC heavyweight title challenger whose last outing saw him stopped inside six rounds at Wembley Stadium by Tyson Fury in April.
Whyte was largely unheard of prior to his British title clash against Olympic gold medallist Anthony Joshua at the O2 Arena in London in December 2015.
Since being dispatched of inside seven rounds by his former amateur rival, ‘The Body Snatcher’ has made plenty of money and been involved in some massive fights, including one against former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, a pair of clashes against Derek Chisora and a rematch against Alexander Povetkin after he was sensationally knocked out inside five rounds in their first meeting in August 2020.
Hearn said recently that Whyte had been handed a number of offers ahead of a potential return to the ring following his defeat to Fury and went on to admit that he hopes the Jamaican-born fighter would go into the next phase of his career with Matchroom and DAZN in his arsenal.