Eddie Hearn has spoken out on the backlash received surrounding comments made on Gervonta Davis.
Following a few tense back and forths online, Hearn paid what he felt was a compliment to the young fighter on The DAZN Boxing Show. Unfortunately for the promoter, ‘Tank’ didn’t see it that way, and took issue with Hearn saying he wasn’t ‘articulate’ or ‘a deep thinker.’
Speaking on the subject to iFL TV, Hearn said:
“I stand by everything I said in that interview. Sometimes you use a word that maybe was the word, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t carry truth.”
Explaining his comments further on Boxing Social, Hearn pointed out that they were compliments in the boxing ring.
“I was having a conversation with the DAZN Boxing Show about who I think wins – Gervonta Davis against Ryan Garcia. And I said I think it’s quite an even fight, but mentally I think Gervonta Davis is in a better position … I said Gervonta Davis is not a deep thinker.
In my opinion, he goes into a fight with bad intentions. He’s not overthinking the situation. He’s not thinking about the consequences, he just goes in there and thinks ‘I’m going to f***ing destroy this guy. And I like that mentality.”
He went on to say that he thought ‘Tank’s future opponent, Ryan Garcia, was a deep thinker in the ring – something that could play negatively in the fight.
“Ryan Garcia is an over thinker. He is a deep thinker. And I feel like in a fight like this, I favour Tank mentally. I also said he’s not articulate … probably not the best word to use. Nothing do to with race or anything like that. The reality is, he’s not articulate. There are a lot of fighters – there are a lot of people in the world – who aren’t articulate.”
Finally, Hearn addressed Leonard Ellerbe and Stephen Espinoza’s comments on the situation. Ellerbe is CEO of Mayweather Promotions and has been open about his dislike for his UK counterpart.
Espinoza, the president of Showtime Sports, also shares a tense relationship with Hearn, and called his comments ‘despicable racial tropes.’
Hearn denied this and branded it ‘ridiculous.’
“You get Leonard Ellebre piping up and you get Stephen Espinoza piping up. Any opportunity those people get to turn people against me … they will love to do it.”
“To say that my comments were any way related to race, was ridiculous.”
When asked if he was going to keep trying to sign ‘Tank’, Hearn said ‘not really’ – which, given the lay of the land, is understandable.