A competitive rivalry is forming between Dana White and Eddie Hearn.
After decades in the fight business, UFC CEO Dana White is stepping into the boxing world once again with Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford this weekend.
The last time White promoted a boxing match was the super-fight between Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor in 2017, one of the biggest fights in combat sports history.
Ahead of Canelo vs. Crawford, White has high hopes for what he can do as a boxing promoter, wanting to build a brand that dominates the sport, like the UFC is to MMA or the NBA is to basketball.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn doubts White can beat him at his own game, challenging him to a friendly competition.
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Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn wants to go ‘head-to-head’ with Dana White
Hearn addressed White’s recent comments in an interview with The Stomping Ground.
“He wants to be the CEO of boxing?” Hearn asked.
“Because they’re trying to get the Muhammad Ali Act changed,” Hearn said of White and the UFC’s parent company TKO Group.
“Listen, what I will tell you is you’re not going to see me slagging off Dana White, not because I don’t want to upset him, because I respect him and I have a good relationship with him.
While he might be in good standing with the UFC CEO, that doesn’t mean Hearn is going to let off the gas pedal when it comes to being a boxing promoter; he’s planning the exact opposite.
“The one thing that I would really like at this point in my career is to go head-to-head with him and to take him on,” Hearn said of White.
“I want to compete against Dana White. I want to prove that I’m much better than him as a boxing promoter. So, I’m excited for him to come into the space.
“That doesn’t mean we’re going to fall out, by the way,” Hearn clarified.
“Competition’s fantastic, but you’re not going to come into boxing and steamroll the game. It’s not going to happen. But we can get on, we can work together, but ultimately, it depends how they’re gonna maneuver.
“Everybody is a competitor to us in the sport, but a lot of those competitors are friends and a lot of those competitors we work with for the benefit of our business, our fighters and the sport and that hopefully will be the same with Dana, but let’s see how it plays out…”
Dana White accepts Eddie Hearn’s challenge in response
In the MMA world, the UFC is largely unrivaled, with Dana White not really having to worry about the competition.
But the sport of boxing is an entirely different story, as Hearn points out, with no clear No. 1 promotion above the rest.
Bringing his UFC expertise to the boxing world, White hopes to prove Hearn wrong once and for all.
“My guy, Eddie Hearn, whom I love and I respect him and I saw him today,” White said of Hearn’s challenge in an interview with Jim Rome.
“He’s out there talking smack, he’s like, Dana is wrong, he can’t do this…
“I love this stuff,” White added.
“I look forward to it, too, Eddie. I can’t wait,” White said in his response to Hearn’s challenge.