Eddie Hearn is willing to fight rival Dana White, as long as it doesn't happen behind closed doors. The Matchroom Boxing supremo has expressed major interest in a showdown with the Zuffa and UFC head honcho to settle their heated feud.
With Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury due to fight on December 11 at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, Hearn and White have continued to trade barbs. The pair have clashed verbally in recent months after Hearn downplayed White's involvement in the mega-fight, while White has insisted he is both promoting and producing the contest.
Fight offer on the table
According to recent reports, Misfits Boxing had offered both White and Hearn $10 million to box under their promotional banner. White scoffed at such suggestions, but Hearn has a different view on the topic. The 47-year-old seemed to confirm the rumours and also stated that the hypothetical bout should take place with the world watching and not with the cameras switched off.
Speaking to iFL TV, Hearn said: "We can do that (fight in a gym). The world wants to see it. What do you want to do? Just do it in a gym? And then you (media) do an interview with me after... 'How'd it go?' 'Oh yeah I smashed him up.' The whole idea is that the world wants to see the fight. I think we have got a chance."
Charity pledge and response
Hearn added: "By the way, we have already been offered $10million each. He (White) said 'I have not been offered that.' Ask Kalle Sauerland showed me the email that was sent to Dana White... offering him $10m. They have had that offer. He is just talking s***. We actually have the opportunity to do something pretty cool, I think, with that money. Let's do the fight, properly. We do not have to do it with Misfits."
He continued: "We could get more money doing it on our own. Whatever happens, if he fights me, I will give $5m to the Ex-Boxers Association and invest that money into grassroots boxing in Britain. And he does the same for American boxing as well. And what an unbelievable thing that would be. I might get chinned. But I would love to train for eight or ten weeks properly for that fight. If you really want to meet me in a gym somewhere, great. But isn't the whole idea - don't you want to see it?"
White appears to be against a blockbuster pay-per-view bout with his arch nemesis. He exclusively revealed to All Out Fighting: "They have definitely not sent me an offer, but I've heard of this. Let me ask you a question. I'm 57-years-old. The last time I boxed was when I was 38, when I was going to fight Tito Ortiz."
He added: "Eddie Hearn's a bum. He's never boxed, ever. He might have f***** around the gym or done whatever. Now, Mike Tyson was 58 or 59 when he fought Jake Paul. You see what Mike Tyson looked like? Mike Tyson was one of the greatest of all-time. You saw what he looked like."
White concluded: "So a bum who's never done anything and a guy is a never was, what kind of a fight do you think that would be and how that would look and why people would want to even f****** waste one second?"
