Speaking to FL TV in Liverpool ahead of the Ben Whitaker vs. Suarez card, Eddie Hearn addressed the ongoing situation with Dana White at length, discussing the collapsed matchup and what he genuinely believes would happen if the two ever stepped into the ring.
When asked whether White is actually willing to face him, Hearn said, “He doesn’t want smoke,” before suggesting his amateur boxing background may have played a role in White’s reluctance.
Reflecting on his early combat days, Hearn added, “I think the stuff the other day, I think he might have found out, like we said in our interview, you know, Bill Ricky Boxing Club Down Lake Meadows as a kid, 4 and 0, all the stuff that sort of circulated around the air at the time, where there was a big bit, a lot of hype around me as a young amateur. I think he’s probably…”
Discussing how the match itself might play out, Hearn initially struck a measured tone before letting his confidence show.
“I think he’s the favorite probably,” he said, before quickly adding, “I don’t want to put the fear into him, so I’m going to dress it up and say he’s a big favorite in the match.”
He continued: “But the reality is like there’s certain combinations that I worked on back in the day down Lake Meadows that would put the fear into Christ into some pound-for-pound boxers today. So once I get back in camp, it’s like riding a bike. Once I get back in camp, it will all start flowing back to me.”
On the subject of training, Hearn revealed that interest from coaches has been overwhelming.
“I’ve had so many people. I’ve had over a dozen world-class trainers offer to train me,” he said, noting that longtime associate Spencer Brown had a specific recommendation.
“Spencer Brown told me I need to get out to Thailand because apparently that’s the gaff for a big camp,” Hearn explained. He also identified his ideal sparring partner, adding, “My main sparring partner would be Chris Lovejoy.”
Responding to skepticism from former MMA star and analyst Chael Sonnen, who claimed the bout could not reach one million pay-per-view buys, Hearn laid out his projections by region.
“If it’s on the zone globally, it does well over a million buys,” he said. Breaking down the math, he continued, “Estimating around half a million UK buyers and three to four hundred thousand American buyers, that’s 900,000. And that, by the way, those numbers are so unbelievably conservative. What about all the other big markets? Australia, all throughout Europe, France, Germany. It flies over a million.”
Hearn also took a direct shot at Sonnen’s distribution argument, adding sarcastically, “If it’s on Netflix, there is no pay-per-view. Well done, mate. Thanks for educating me on that.”
As for whether the match will ever actually happen, Hearn sounded far less optimistic by the end of the conversation. “He s**ts himself now anyway, so he’s not going to compete against me. But it was a good idea,” he said, suggesting the matchup may remain more fantasy than reality.
