NOTTINGHAM, England – Even before the announcement that Conor Benn had signed with Zuffa Boxing, Benn’s now-former promoter Eddie Hearn spoke about the grand measures Dana White’s company might need to resort to in order to attract top talent.
"They have got to make a mark somehow," Hearn, who heads up Matchroom Boxing, told BoxingScene in an interview on Friday just hours before Zuffa said it had signed Benn in a deal that is reported to be for one bout and eight figures.
This is not the first time that Zuffa has been in the market for one of Matchroom’s top talents. Unified junior bantamweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, perhaps Matchroom’s pound-for-pound best fighter, received a lucrative offer from Zuffa following the expiration of his contract with Matchroom.
However, in that expired contract, Matchroom had a right to match any offer that came in for its 115lb star. The promotion did exactly that in order to keep Rodriguez on the books. But just how big was the offer?
“We matched it, but if it was really, really crazy and a number that just doesn't work, then we might not have matched it,” said Hearn. “We love ‘Bam’ Rodriguez. We've been with him his whole career, and sometimes you have to make these decisions. So [Zuffa Boxing] is going to have to do some crazy stuff. The thing is, when they do the crazy stuff, what they offered ‘Bam’ Rodriguez and what ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is getting paid, is five times more than some of the biggest UFC stars.
“The UFC stars are going to start revolting when they go, ‘I just don't understand how this is working. I'm selling out the T-Mobile, I’m doing a huge viewership on Paramount and I’m getting five times less than these fighters.’ That's when the problem is going to come. But they've got to make a mark [in boxing] somehow.”
The addition of Benn was certainly a statement from Zuffa – and one that shows just how much of a threat White might pose to boxing’s current promotional leaders. Although the three events that Zuffa hosted so far at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas have not featured the real elite of the sport, cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia is next up in March, and then Benn potentially in April. Zuffa’s schedule and roster is starting to take shape.
“I think they're going to be major players, for sure,” said Hearn. “I don't want to compare them to other people, but some people you look at and you think, ‘I can't lose any sleep over you.’ I know they're going to be a threat. They're very smart people. [TKO Group executive] Nick Khan – Dana's not really involved, I don't think, at that kind of operational level – I think he's the face. But those other guys, they're super-smart, and they're ambitious, and they're a good company. So they're going to be a threat, but it's going to take time.”
Hearn views Zuffa as a player, not just now but in the long-term. He has doubts, however, about whether the business model Zuffa is trying to implement on the sport will work. White’s idea that there will be only one belt per weight class – the Zuffa world title – is something that Hearn believes boxing purists won’t accept.
“As a fight fan, I just can’t get my head around it, and maybe the casual goes, ‘Oh, great, Zuffa belt.’ I don't think so, but I don't know,” Hearn said. “I mean, you imagine I come out – and don’t forget, I have a stable 100 times better and 100 times deeper than Zuffa – I could come out with a belt. You imagine me up there with a Matchroom Boxing belt. Fucking hell. I mean, I know I'm cringey sometimes, but fuck me, I'm not that bad. Imagine what you lot [the media] would say: ‘Oh, look at him.’ ‘Oh, this is the belt, guys. This is the belt everybody wants to win.’ No, it fucking ain’t. It’s your belt. So, anyway.”
Despite Hearn’s skepticism of the business model that White is trying to bring to boxing, it is one that is similar to what Matchroom has successfully implemented in other sports. Hearn and his father Barry lead the leading organization in darts, with the Professional Darts Cooperation, and snooker, with the World Snooker Tour. So how is what Zuffa is doing with boxing different from what Matchroom has done previously?
“It's boxing, isn't it? It's very different,” said Hearn. “There's win bonuses and all sorts. I think the biggest thing is control for those guys. They want to control your commercial elements. You're not allowed any sponsors, as I understand it. You've got to wear these clothes, you've got to wear these shorts. You've got to request when you wipe your bum – I'm only joking about that. I don't believe that's a real clause, but it's a control thing. But you're signing up to the rules.
“I think we criticize the UFC for their contracts, but at the end of the day, it's up to them. There's big legal cases where fighters have taken them to court because they feel like they may have been mistreated or whatever it is. But ultimately, that's their rules, and that's what they want to implement.”
The biggest factor involved, Hearn believes, is White having to compete with the promotional outfits currently leading the way in boxing, compared to MMA, where the UFC is king.
“I think what you're going to see in boxing, which is really interesting with Dana particularly, is he's not used to being anything else other than No. 1,” Hearn said, “Because there's only one, really – I know there's a few other organizations, but there's no competition. So right now, if you look at where he sits as a boxing promoter, he's right at the bottom of the pile. I don't know how he will accept that.
“By the way, they're going to get much better, and they're going to be a threat. They're very smart people, but right now, he's not even No. 2. He's not even No. 3. He's not even No. 6 in terms of quality of product in boxing. I just wonder if that's going to aggravate him. Clearly it has already, but it's going to be interesting.”
Tom Ivers is a lifelong fight fan and former amateur boxer who has a master’s degree in sports journalism. Tom joined BoxingScene in 2024 and is now a key part of the UK and social media teams.
