Instead of a traditional face off interview between fighters, today DAZN featured a face off between Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn for a moderated conversation with Chris Mannix. Check out some excerpts down below with the full video interview at the top.
Hearn on how he feels about making co-promotional fights
“I think that the problem is actually me and Oscar probably have similar issue in that we’re very outspoken and we do probably rub people up the wrong way sometimes. And the problem in boxing is some people once you do that will act off emotion rather than act in the best interest of the fighter or the sport.
“I said this about Bob Arum the other day, I think you could actually burn Bob Arum’s house down and he would still do a deal with you that evening if it’s the right deal. He’s very good at that because I’ve seen Bob come up to me, cuddle me, and literally 10 yards away in an interview, ruin me. And I’m okay with that.
“I’ve learned over the years, particularly in America, sometimes they don’t quite get our sarcasm. But I do think there’s a movement now where people are willing to work more and I think it really comes down to the networks. I think the sharing of fights as we’ve seen with ESPN and DAZN, makes it so much easier.”
De La Hoya on whether it’s difficult to separate the personal from the business in boxing
“It’s like Eddie said, the fight has to make sense and I’ve been promoting now for 22 years and the reason why we’ve been successful is because we make the right fights, and the right fights at the right time. And if Eddie has fighters that makes sense to us, to Golden Boy, then we’re more than happy to, we’re open to making this happen on DAZN.
“We share the same platform, we should be working together more often. We should be the leaders of boxing and show the world that we want to make the great fights for the fans, and that’s the bottom line.”
Hearn on a potential Matchroom vs Golden Boy card like the one he’s doing with Queensbury
“Yeah. I mean our relationship (with Golden Boy) is much better than Matchroom’s relationship with Queensbury. To think — I’ve been promoting for 13 years — I’ve never met or spoken to Frank Warren in 13 years. I mean, it’s really not good for — I mean, the rivalry is good because it keeps us hungry. We’re on the same platform (as Golden Boy), we get on. I still want to outperform Golden Boy. He still wants to beat Matchroom, he’s a competitor.”
De La Hoya on his cross-promotional fight experience for Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia
“…making that fight with PBC, Ryan Garcia, was not easy at all. It was very, very difficult but when you make it happen and you fight for your partner the way we did — we fought for DAZN to be part of the promotion and what happens, you get the biggest fight of year for boxing.”
Hearn on osctacles he’s experienced most in making big fights
“I find one of the biggest obstacles is the managers and the advisors…the fighters want the fights, we want the fights. I think one of the biggest incorrect perceptions from fans and people is that we stop the fights. We want the biggest fights. One, because the biggest fights make us money but two, we don’t want to sit ringside at a fight knowing actually — like one of the worst feelings I ever have is going to my own average show.”
De La Hoya on boxing needing main stream stars to carry the sport
“I strongly feel that when you have the right talent and you’re bringing him up the right way, you can create stars. You just have to make sure you have the right opponents, the right marketing, the right platform. I mean, DAZN has been incredible. Eddie Hearn has been doing a great job, great job promoting these fighters and making sure that boxing is alive, and what you’ve done in the UK is phenomenal.
“I would love to go to the UK and do some work there the way he’s doing here in the US. It can only help boxing. So I just feel that as long we can come together…there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be bigger than life.”