Hearn believes Endeavor could attempt to break into the boxing business following a deal that gives the company major control of both MMA and professional wrestling.
Endeavor’s game-changing deal to purchase a controlling interest in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has everyone in the sports and business worlds paying attention. One person who is watching closer than most is Matchroom Boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn.
Hearn has worked with many of the biggest names in boxing such as Anthony Joshua, Canelo Alvarez, Katie Taylor and Gennady Golovkin, among others. He’s considered one of the sharpest businessmen in the game these days, and he believes there’s a boxing-sized hole in Endeavor’s live event strategy the company may try to fill soon.
“It’s an interesting move,” Hearn said on The MMA Hour regarding the WWE deal. “And let’s see what they do now in terms of boxing. Because obviously, that’s the one missing for them. But it’s a tough business. Maybe … maybe they wanna stay in things they can control.
“Successful sports businesses have a huge amount of control,” he added. “They don’t own wrestling, but more or less they own wrestling. Mixed martial arts, they don’t own mixed martial arts, but of course … more or less so. They have a huge control and domination within their sports. Boxing, it’s very difficult to do that, we know that.”
Recently, UFC President, Dana White, told Sports Business Journal that he intended to get back into boxing promotion after a failed attempt to start Zuffa Boxing back in 2017. Hearn isn’t sure White is ready for the headaches that could entail.
“I’ve always looked at Dana and boxing, I think he’d find it very difficult and frustrating to not be able to say to people, ‘Just to let you know, you’re fighting on that date, that’s who you’re fighting, and I’ll see you there,’” Hearn said. “I’m very jealous of that model, I’ve said it before. But, it seems like in boxing, every single fight is a tug of war with fighters, coaches, lawyers, managers, agents. And it’s very frustrating. And I don’t know whether they’d be up for that fight.”
Hearn even seemed to hint that buying Matchroom Boxing could be a way forward for Endeavor in boxing.
“Globally, we are the only global promotional company that has been able to have that effect globally,” Hearn explained. “We don’t own boxing, but we are the only global promotional company that is building the value of boxing, Matchroom, our fighters, in international territories. There are individual promotional companies in individual territories, but we do something different.”
Hearn certainly had nothing but positive things to say about Endeavor’s latest deal that will see UFC and WWE operate under a single company umbrella valued at $21 billion.
“Amazing, amazing. I mean, it was an incredible move,” he concluded. “What a powerhouse of companies. I mean, two businesses that we look up to a lot really, in terms of the modeling, the brand values, certainly the consumer base in and out of the ring. And UFC, WWE?
“I tell our team all the time: watch what they do, look how they do it, and get as close as you can in the boxing world — really,” he finished.