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Eddie Hearn Strikingly Attacks Dana White: ‘Come Into the Ring and I’ll Show You’

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Eddie Hearn has heard enough. And on Tuesday, he made sure everyone knew it.

In a wildly witty interview with IFLTV and another performance Ariel Helwani showthe president of Matchroom Boxing, in two separate interviews conducted within a few hours, interviewed Dan White, formally accepting the challenge from the UFC boss, outlining the financial terms he believed would be attached to the fight and predicting a knockout.

Since the launch of Zuffa Boxing, the exchanges between the two promoters have escalated rapidly, and White’s post-UFC 327 press conference this past weekend added fuel to the fire. In a conversation with the media in Miami, White sharply criticized his rival with characteristic bluntness.

“Eddie Hearn is in a coma. Eddie Hearn isn’t boxing anyone, he’s posting f***ing pictures of himself hitting the speed bag. It looks like it’s in sluggish motion,” White said. “I’ll tell you what. If that happened, me and Eddie Hearn are bums. We’d be the first fight of the night. These guys are talking like we’re going to be the headliners.

Hearn, appearing on IFLTV, had a very different view on card placement.

“He called me ap***y and that would be the start of the night. No, hell no! It’ll be the main event probably on Netflix,” Hearn said. “And if you generate… it will probably be the biggest fight right now, outside of AJ.”

The interviewer pressed him on the potential of a pay-per-view broadcast, pointing to Hearn’s previous statements about the benefits of a White fight. Hearn didn’t hesitate.

“You said categorically, you said it in one of my interviews, that he makes a minimum of 1 million purchases. Are you earnest? 1 million purchases is straightforward. EASY,” Hearn said. “Does Dana, who clearly knows this, think this will be the first fight of the night? I don’t know what he means.”

Financial framework

In addition to hurling insults, Hearn laid out the specific financial structure for the fight, treating the hypothetical fight like any other major promotion he has lined up.

“You put it in the pot 50-50. I know they’re not used to this model, but we’ll split the revenue. Me and him, 50-50,” Hearn said. “A broadcaster wants to sign up, they can take 10 or 15 percent of their pay-per-view. Eat what you kill. We’ll make $30 million per fight.”

This figure is significantly different from what has apparently been offered so far. Hearn referred to the $10 million figure set for the site and dismissed it as “very far off.” He also admitted that Turki Alalshikh was involved in discussions behind the scenes, although no formal offer had appeared on his desk.

“He thinks Turki has made some kind of offer, not an offer. He hasn’t made me an offer yet,” Hearn said. “Kind of disappointing. Dana White sure forgot a bit about this, didn’t he?”

White confirmed this during the UFC 327 press conference, telling reporters: “You don’t think Turki would try to make this fight? Of course he would. People are throwing offers everywhere.”

“I think I’m going to knock him out.”

If the IFLTV interview provided the financial framework, Hearn’s Monday appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show provided the knockout prediction.

“He keeps calling me hopeless, but I’m like, let’s see if I’m diseased,” Hearn told Helwani. “I mean, we would each make $30 million. What does he think, that I’m straightforward to touch? I’m very narrow, but I can handle it. I’ll get into good shape. I’m a gigantic lump and I think I’ll knock him out.”

Then, in perhaps the most sincere and self-aware moment of the entire media frenzy, Hearn accepted with extraordinary joy a different possible outcome.

“But if I get knocked out and make $30 million, it won’t be the saddest day in the world and people will probably find it pretty witty,” he said. “Now I’m very excited about it. After this conversation, I’m going to go to the gym.”

The formal acceptance was as direct as possible.

“He called me, I agree. I’m in. Let’s find out who the real dick is,” Hearn said. “Put me in, write down my name, find me a pair of shorts and I’ll go.”

“I’m Ready”

Returning to the IFLTV interview, Hearn was already building the case for his readiness with all the subtlety of a hammer. White mocked the swift bag footage that Hearn posted during training at Oleksandr Usyk’s camp in Spainand Hearn took it personally.

“We also saw your duffel bag and we said that was sluggish motion. Honestly, him and his guys, the cheeky bastards,” Hearn said before launching into what can only be described as a full scouting report on him. “I train every day. I’m torn to pieces. Fucking hand speed. Unbelievable. And I’m ready.”

The Matchroom boss then went into full Essex mode, with obvious relish referencing his amateur boxing past.

“You think Dana doesn’t know anything about Eddie Hearn, the Iceman from Billericay? Lake Meadows, 4 and 0, four by the way,” Hearn said, smiling. “Do you think Dana White will survive a frigid night on Brentwood High Street? Do you think?”

When the IFLTV interviewer jokingly offered to call Mike Tyson as a potential opponent, Hearn used it as the perfect opportunity to prove his point.

“So just because I want to fight Mike Tyson doesn’t mean it’s going to f**king happen,” Hearn said. “But Mike Tyson never called you out. In fact, Mike Tyson doesn’t even fucking know who you are, dude.” He paused long enough to deliver the punch line. “He challenged me to a fight, he said I wouldn’t fight him, and I’m telling you I’ll fight you. And I’m telling you I’ll beat him. Composed down. Show some respect to my name.”

More than a joke, less than a deal

What makes the Hearn-White animated so unusual is that it is situated in a veritable no man’s land, between promotional theater and real hostility. Their once-friendly relationship deteriorated rapidly after White signed Conor Benn from Matchroom to Zuffa Boxing for a reported $15 million. Hearn responded by recruiting UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall to his newly formed Matchroom Talent Agency. Since then, the photos have been personal.

White maintained that if the fight did happen at all, it should be the opening card, not the headline, and that, at age 56, he should not be in the ring. However, he also stopped brief of closing the door definitively, confirming that real deals were being discussed and that Alalshikh is actively trying to make that happen.

Hearn, 10 years younger, at 46 and much taller, appears to be the one pushing harder. His closing argument on IFLTV leaned toward the absurd, yet somehow still sounded half-serious.

“Imagine a traveling army from Essex, 20,000 mighty, going to Vegas,” Hearn said. “I documented it. I trained my balls too. I’m ready. I’m fucking ready.”

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Ryan Garcia Backs Fighter to Defeat Shakur Stevenson in Exciting Boxing Showdown

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Ryan Garcia Backs Fighter to Defeat Shakur Stevenson in Exciting Boxing Showdown

Ryan Garcia has named the fighter that he believes can put an end to Shakur Stevenson’s 25-fight undefeated record.

Stevenson stepped up in weight to dominate Teofimo Lopez and claim the WBO super-lightweight title back in Januaryfully intending on returning to his natural lightweight division during the aftermath, until those plans were derailed when he was stripped of his 135lb title.

As a result, Stevenson has kept hold of his 140lb marble but has not fought since, despite links to a showdown with Garcia in spring, which collapsed when the Newark southpaw declared that he would not be willing to move up in weight once again.

Now, Garcia is scheduled to face Conor Benn next month, whilst Stevenson has recently signed with Zuffa Boxing and is searching for an opponent for his second outing of 2026.

Speaking to FightHypeGarcia revealed that he would favour IBF lightweight world champion Raymond Muratalla to come out on top if he and Stevenson collide.

“That would be a good a** fight. He [Muratalla] is smart, he is not going to just go in there and just [be reckless].

“I just think that Raymond has a lot of things that would give Shakur problems. It won’t be an easy fight for Shakur, that is for sure.

“[If it was] a three-round fight, I would give it to Shakur, even a six-round fight. A 12-round fight? I am siding with Muratalla.”

Muratalla is set to vacate his IBF crown and move into the super-lightweight division imminently, with the WBO having recently stated that he could be named as Stevenson’s mandatory challenger when he does.

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Jesse Bam Rodriguezs Team Reacts to Naoya Inoues Super Fight Deadline

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Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez's Team Reacts to Naoya Inoue's Super Fight Deadline

Robert Garcia, the trainer and manager of Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, has expressed his annoyance with a lack of communication from Team Nayoa Inoue.

‘The Monster’ made a seventh successful defence of his undisputed crown in May, unanimously outpointing Junto Nakatani in their all-Japanese encounter.

As a result, Inoue is not only considered the super-bantamweight king but, on a pound-for-pound metric, many would also place him at the top of the tree.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, made his bantamweight debut in June, becoming a three-division world champion by dethroning WBA champion Antonio Vargas with a sixth-round finish.

While there is much talk surrounding a potential clash between Rodriguez and Inoue, it would seem that no official negotiations have actually taken place.

Or at least, it is far from certain that the pair will square off in March 2027, when Inoue is reportedly looking to stage his next outing. He recently stated that he will not hang around at 122lbs waiting for ‘Bam’, and will move on if the fight does not happen in Q1 of 2027.

On the proposed showdown, coach Garcia has told Ring Magazine that he and ‘Bam’ have no problem with the deadline.

“There’s been talk that Inoue says he’s moving up [to featherweight] sooner than later – that he probably won’t wait [for the Rodriguez fight] past March of next year.

“We’re okay with that, but nobody’s told me that. Nobody from Inoue’s team has approached me saying, ‘Look, Robert. This is what Inoue wants. He wants to know if you guys are interested in the fight’.

“Yeah, we’re interested in the fight. But I’m not trying to change the date. I would love Bam to get one more fight at 118[lbs].”

Garcia went on to name WBO bantamweight champion Christian Medina as the ideal opponent for Rodriguez in November, before he hopefully steps up to 122lbs and challenges Inoue.

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Teofimo Lopez Challenges Fathers Corner Decisions After Shakur Stevenson Defeat

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"Teofimo Lopez Challenges Father's Corner Decisions After Shakur Stevenson Defeat"

Teofimo Lopez has criticised his father for showing a lack of competence during his unanimous decision defeat to Shakur Stevenson.

‘The Takeover’ was handily outboxed and dethroned by Stevenson in January, winning just one round as his opponent became a four-division world champion at 140lbs.

As a result, Lopez is now moving up to 147lbs in an attempt to reinvent himself and become a three-weight world champion against Rolando Romero.

But while he felt a change in weight was most certainly needed, the 29-year-old saw no reason to dismiss his father, Teofimo Sr, as his head coach.

This is in spite of the fact that Lopez Sr was heavily ridiculed for his efforts in the corner at Madison Square Garden, where Stevenson’s route to victory was only made clearer by his bizarre style of coaching.

Rather than offering his son any words of advice, he just simply pointed out his flaws and gave the defending champion no direction on how to improve.

Lopez therefore confronted his father while speaking with Ring Magazinealbeit with no threats of employing a different trainer.

“Every son wants to make their father proud. When you got your father in that moment – when you’re bleeding; when they’re allowing Shakur to do all these extra things … and your trainer is not going you instructions – they’re just talking you down: ‘Where’s your power? Where’s this? You’re gonna hate yourself’ – all roads lead to [defeat].”

As he takes on WBA champion Romero at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, it should be interesting to see how Lopez’s corner shapes up between rounds.

In any event, the American will be under a fair amount of pressure to produce an improved performance.

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