Zuffa Boxing dominated headlines this week. The boxing world has been rocked by the news that Conor Benn signed with Dana White’s new promotion, and in even more shocking news, that Frank Warren will be launching a reported $1 billion lawsuit against the franchise, which is partially financed by boxing power-broker Turki Alalshikh.
Benn (24-1, 14 KOs) switched his promotional allegiance to Zuffa from Hearn’s Matchroom in an apparent $15 million one-fight deal. That fight has landed on the Tyson Fury vs. Arslanbek Makhmudov undercard against Regis Prograis on April 11.
In between those two stories, news broke that Warren and Zuffa are on the verge of a serious legal battle, which led to The Ring Magazine — also financed by Alalshikh — reporting on rumors that Warren and Queensberry are in financial difficulty. Ring Magazine did not provide evidence of the supposed financial difficulty. Companies House in the UK suggests the opposite, as the public financial directory shows that Queensberry Promotions posted $15.2 million in profit as of the end of March 2025.
“I think the one thing that you’ve got to do in this situation is not be emotional and make knee-jerk decisions and reactions,” Hearn said in an exclusive interview with Boxing Social’s Matthew Lenihan. “What we saw from The Ring and that kind of stuff, that was a reactive move. Turki is like that. Turki is quite emotional and reactive, and he is passionate. The best thing to do? Just breathe. I’ve learned that so much over the years. My dad [Barry Hearn] has always said that to me. When something kicks off, he would just say to me, ‘Just relax, sleep on it! Digest it, understand it, and get it right.’ Whereas maybe four or five years ago, I would have gone, ‘f**k it!’””
Recent times have seen Alalshikh bring domestic promotional rivals Hearn and Warren together to cooperate on numerous ambitious boxing events, including doubleheaders between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, and Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
“It’s a very reactive and emotional industry with a huge amount of ego,” Hearn added. “The Conor Benn stuff, I knew about it a week before it broke. Now, if I would have done an interview at that point, it would have been very different to the interview that I actually did with Kugan [Cassius of IFL TV]. By then, I was gutted, but I’ve had a chance for this to sink in, and this is how I feel.”
