Eddie Hearn says he is ready for a “long, hard battle” with Dana White after Zuffa Boxing signed Conor Benn
Eddie Hearn described losing Conor Benn as “painful” and that his former fighter has aligned himself with “ruthless” operators.
The Matchroom Boxing CEO told BBC 5 Live’s Boxing with Steve Bunce podcast, “I’ve not spoken to him [White] for a couple of weeks; I had a couple of texts with him.
“It’s going to be a long, hard battle. But I’m also privileged and honoured that it seems to be a battle between me and him. And I’m well up for it.”
Hearn cited the treatment of UFC’s Tom Aspinall as an example of Dana White’s approach.“Look at what they did to Tom Aspinall. Tom Aspinall literally had his eye gouged out in a fight and Dana White basically called him a cry baby and cast him aside, humiliated him in front of everybody, while the guy is having operations to save his eyesight,” Hearn accused.
Aspinall retained his heavyweight title when the bout was deemed a no contest following an eye poke – an incident which has left him with “persistent” double vision.
In the post-fight news conference, UFC president White said “only Tom knows what happened” and that he “didn’t want to continue”.
Aspinall publicly declared that he was “disappointed” by White’s reaction on his YouTube channel.
When White was asked about Aspinall’s comments following UFC 323, White said “things can be taken out of context”.
The 46-year-old from Essex continued his tirade, “Dana White wouldn’t do what I did for Conor Benn. But we’re different people, and we have a different passion for the sport.”
“You’re a pawn in the game if you’re Conor Benn. We’re different organisations.
“I’ve said it before: these guys are very, very powerful, ruthless people. They don’t care about the sport of boxing.
“In my opinion, they don’t care about the fighters – it’s just a business to them.”
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