Challenge accepted, says Eddie Hearn.
A day after UFC CEO Dana White (with some seed-planting from interviewer Piers Morgan) said he’d take off his promoter hat and put on some boxing gloves to compete against him, Hearn said he too is in.
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“I’ve always said yes (to fighting promoters), because I know I’d win those fights,” Hearn told iFL TV on Friday. “But I watch Dana sparring. By the way, of course I’d do it. Because how could you say no? Then, you’d be a p*ssy, wouldn’t you? By the way, Netflix would pay an absolute (fortune), or live on DAZN, the global home of boxing. So I’d probably make a fortune to do it. If I got chinned, I’ll get chinned. But I’d probably spark him out, to be fair.”
White’s comments Thursday were egged on by Morgan during the interview, asking the UFC boss if the escalating rivalry with Hearn could materialize into an actual fight.
“Listen, if Eddie wants to box, we can box,” White said. “I don’t think Eddie wants to box. … Back in the day, I used to box with all the guys: boxers and UFC guys. I have boxed.”
Currently, there are no real signs of an actual fight happening. However, the verbal battles will likely continue after Hearn signing UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall to a representation deal that was announced Thursday. The move comes weeks after White signed former Matchroom Boxing star Conor Benn to a one-fight deal under Zuffa Boxing.
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The recent business deals took an already bubbling relationship between Hearn and White into a full-on boil. Though they used to be friends, White’s entry into the boxing world and effort to skirt the Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act struck a nerve with Hearn and many other promoters in the industry.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Eddie Hearn accepts Dana White fight: ‘I’d probably spark him out’
