Eddie Hearn has spoken out for the first time since the shock news that Conor Benn has signed with Zuffa Boxing and Dana White.
It was announced on Friday night that Benn had joined forces with a fresh promotional team after spending the entire 10 years of his career with Hearn and Matchroom Boxing, starting with his 2016 debut.
There have been many twists and turns in Benn’s relationship with Matchroom, most notably following his failed drug test in tardy 2022. to victory over Chris Eubank Jr in a rematch in November.
It seemed like Benn and Hearn would team up in a substantial fight after their victory over Eubank, with Shakur Stevenson and Ryan Garcia mentioned as possible opponents, but “The Destroyer” will instead team up with Zuffa and White.
Hearn has now shared his reaction with IFL TVadmitting he is “devastated” by what happened.
“I’ve known about this for a few days now. I received an email from Conor Benn’s lawyer informing me of this. I’m not going to sit here and hang Conor Benn out to arid. I’ll be sincere with you, I’m personally quite devastated.
“I had a few days to digest what might happen. Maybe this interview will be different than a few days ago. It’s not often that I get shocked, I blame myself because I forgot it was boxing.
“I just felt like the loyalty we showed would never have put us in this situation. I felt like I’ve never had to get Conor Benn to sign a fresh contract before, and I probably could have. I blame myself, I made a mistake. I misjudged the character.”
Hearn then revealed that he had contacted Benn to discuss the situation, but the British fighter did not want to talk.
“I’m not going to hang him out to arid, he’ll say it’s a substantial offer. When I got the email from his lawyer, I texted him and said, ‘I think we should call. After everything I’ve done for you, I think I deserve a call.’ He said no.
“I can’t believe it, I don’t know what to say except that I felt everything we gave him, the loyalty we gave him, the support we gave him, it would have been enough to talk about it or get close to a certain number, but there was no interest. Very surprising, very painful, but it’s another moment in life that you live and learn from.”
Benn’s next fight is expected to be announced in due course, but it is clear that the relationship with Hearn will never be the same.