When Dana White decided to get into the sport of boxing, he originally had one rule in mind and that was avoiding conflict with his friend and combat sports colleague Eddie Heard and his brand at Matchroom Boxing.
White and Hearn often spoke glowingly about each other and as much as the UFC CEO wanted to conquer the sport of boxing, he saw no reason to go after somebody he considered a friend. But that allo changed as Hearn decided to turn White and Zuffa Boxing into public enemy No. 1 and what was
once a very cordial and friendly relationship has turned volatile in the worst ways possible.
Lately, Hearn and White have been trying to hash out details for a long awaited showdown between British heavyweight legends Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. But arguments over the location for the fight, the venue to host the event and so much more have the fighters convinced the matchup isn’t going to happen and White puts all that blame for that happening back on Hearn.
“I’ve never seen a guy who’s supposed to be a promoter hurt a fight more than this guy has,” White told MMA Fighting ahead of Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn on Saturday. “At the end of the day, whether I promote this fight or not, it doesn’t change anything in my life, but he’s hurting this fight. He’s hurting [Anthony Joshua], he’s hurting [Tyson] Fury, it’s the weirdest thing ever.”
White says if he had his druthers, he’d just eliminate all of other people involved in making this fight happen and he’d just personally promote Fury vs. Joshua.
“I’d say f*ck all you motherf*ckers, deal’s off,” White said. “I’d get together with Frank Warren because I have to, because he’s the guy on the other side and I’d do the fight myself. I’d cut out the Saudi’s, me, and everybody else in between. I’d drop them all out and I’d do the fight myself.
“I’d say you can light the contract on fire. I’m out. This should be done in England and this is my fighter and he should be the promoter of this thing. I’d wipe the whole f*cking thing out and I’d do it myself. Eddie’s not capable of doing that. Eddie can’t do that.”
White knows the world is waiting to finally see Fury and Joshua throw down in the ring but the constant in fighting about the details surrounding the event have almost sunk any hope of that matchup actually happening.
In a perfect world, White knows that Hearn would love to just promote the fight by himself but he knows that’s never going to happen.
So for now, Fury, Joshua and everybody else involved in stuck waiting for one side or the other to make the necessary concessions to actually seal the deal and book a fight that’s been in the works for over a decade.
“If Eddie could do that, then he’d do it,” White said. “Do you think that I’d be in the middle of a situation and [Eddie says] ‘what if I was going to promote the Conor McGregor fight?’ You wouldn’t promote the Conor McGregor fight, motherf*cker. I would wipe you out.
“Does anybody doubt what I’m saying that’s what would happen? Then f*cking do it. Quit f*cking whining and crying and spending 24 hours a day doing f*cking interviews and hurting the fight. This fight should have happened 12 years ago. People are willing to invest in the fight and you continue to hurt the fight and make it not happen.”
