The rivalry between Eddie Hearn and Dana White is at risk of overshadowing the Dec. 11 mega-fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
It is not Hearn and White who will get in the ring in Cardiff, but their promotional struggle has been a point of interest of the build-up to the struggle — and in basic in the boxing world since White’s Zuffa Boxing entered the sport in January.
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Spencer Brown, the supervisor of Tyson Fury, gave his ideas on the bitter feud on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” Tuesday.
“I think Eddie’s winning the war of words, but they’re two completely different characters,” Brown said. “[White’s] a hardened bulldog who’s a great businessman who’s took stuff from nowhere.
“I keep in mind the first UFC. …. To carry it from where it was — he’s mainly made the sport. He’s created a sport on its own. All credit to him.
“Eddie Hearn’s picked the boxing up from his dad, ran with it, and been unbelievably successful.”
Although Brown — and many in the boxing world — are having fun with seeing two behemoths of fight sports activities promotion battle it out, Brown acknowledged that he would like to see them get along and work collectively shifting ahead for Fury vs. Joshua.
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Hearn and White were previously cordial with one another, to the level where they’d even make appearances at each other’s occasions, but that friendship was terminated as soon as TKO entered the boxing space.
“You’ve got two men there — I can’t see why they can’t [be amicable],” Brown said. “Does it have to be bitter and nasty all the time? I don’t think so.
“I’ve seen Eddie Hearn at one of the UFC fights in Vegas [the Sphere in September 2024], and he was invited there, and they were getting on nicely. Zuffa’s introduction to boxing, clearly, they’ll both be very territorial, won’t they? Especially Eddie.”
In March, White went on “The Piers Morgan Show” and called out Hearn for a boxing match — an invitation that Hearn swiftly grabbed with both arms. KSI’s Misfits Boxing has provided a $20 million pot for the promoter battle, though White has since dismissed the risk of it occurring.
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“I think if Dana catches him on the jaw, he goes,” Brown said, joking about the potential matchup. “If Eddie retains him at long vary and retains him on the jab, I think he beats him.”
But Brown’s interest in the build-up to Fury vs. Joshua extends far beyond the Hearn-White feud. His company, Goldstar, has been central to Saudi Arabia’s investment in boxing, and though he believes whispers of the country’s potential exit from boxing are overblown, he does acknowledge that the Dec. 11 fight could be among the last events the kingdom funds on this scale.
“I do not think [their involvement in boxing] is going anywhere yet,” Brown insisted. “Everything has to calm down. The money has to go down because nobody can keep paying that kind of money.
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“I think [Fury-Joshua] is one of the last of the big fights we’re going to see [Saudi Arabia do]. I think you might get one or two big fights a year in the future, but I don’t think they’re going to leave the sport. I don’t think they’ve got any thoughts about leaving the sport.
“Obviously, it’s all down to Turki Alalshikh and how he gets on and how his health is. We all listened to what he said the other day, and it was heartbreaking, actually.”
Alalshikh has been a huge driving drive behind the kingdom’s investment in boxing over the previous several years. He has spent a vital quantity of money funding main occasions and the ecosystem of the sport — which he says is his ardour — since he realized that his time on Earth may be restricted due to cancer and a mind tumor.
With the formation of Zuffa Boxing and the slowing down of Saudi occasions occurring around the same time, industry insiders have speculated that the Saudis’ drastic spending in boxing will be sharply decreased, and changed by a more economically possible investment over time via TKO’s Zuffa Boxing.
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