By Jeff Zimmerman
The first visit to Texas for Hearn and team was not the best time, as it was a day after the disaster in New York as their heavyweight champion and global star Anthony Joshua got upset by Andy Ruiz in one of boxing’s greatest upsets on June 1, 2019.
And without much time to process what happened that dreadful night, Hearn was on the move to Dallas to kick off the promotion of 140lbers Jose Ramirez vs. Maurice Hooker. However, just 6 months later, Joshua reclaimed his belts in Saudi Arabia and Hearn is already calling for a mega showdown between Joshua and Tyson Fury in what would surely go down as one of the biggest fights in boxing history.
“I keep joking about it but imagine if we would have lost. Of course, it’s amazing to have a major player in the heavyweight division, but if we didn’t’, it would have been just sitting back and watching all this craziness evolve and now we’re in the conversation and we’re part of potentially the biggest fight of all time,” Hearn stated.
“I think for the sport to evolve and grow the heavyweight division always needs to be thriving and it’s thriving today more than it has done in decades.”
For Hearn to continue his success in the U.S., he hopes to sign other big stars to fill out his growing stable. He signed Jessie Vargas right away and after a long courtship with Mikey Garcia he finally got him too.
“I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I’m quite self-critical, so a lot of people are saying you are looking great, look at your stable, shows, tickets,” said Hearn. “But I was probably expected to sign one or two bigger names faster. I’m happy with our stable, especially with Mikey Garcia on board and people like that.
“I expected to take over quite quickly and I think we are in a great spot here. No one is doing what we are doing globally, UK, America, Italy, Spain, Germany, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Monaco,” Hearn stated. “We are the only international promoter. We got different rivals in different markets, but no one is doing it internationally. So, I feel like we are in a good position, it is just the case of learning over here.
“The market is very different, it’s a huge place, a huge country and each city is completely different,” said Hearn. So, what works in Philly, doesn’t work in LA, what works in Kansas doesn’t work in New York. So, it is about understanding the markets. If you look at gates recently 8,000 for Usyk in Chicago, 9,000 in Phoenix for Jacobs-Chavez and 10,000 this weekend, no one is delivering those kinds of gates but us, but no one is talking about it.
“I think we are building a nice image for ourselves and understanding what we need to do on the ground and how to penetrate the audiences. It is different here. In England 80% of the tickets are bought on the first day of sale, because we like to plan things, us Brits, but over here we sold 400 tickets yesterday and we’re going to do 500 tickets today, so we could be at 8,000 now and will have over 10,000 there the night of the fight.”
And although Garcia is the draw in this fight after bringing in 50,000 along with Dallas’ welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. last year at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, Hearn knows that Vargas is a live dog and should not be overlooked.
“That question is what everyone has been saying to me the last few days,” Hearn shared. “People are saying, I think Jessie Vargas is going to win this fight. He is so pumped for this fight. I have not seen him like this before.
“There are a lot of question marks about Mikey Garcia at 147lbs. How much does he still want it? He’s a stubborn little ***, so I think he probably still does want it, but I think it is going to be a war. I think Jessie Vargas is here to fight. I think Mikey Garcia is going to trade with him, he’s going to want to engage, he is going to want and entertain. I think it’s going to be a great fight. I think Jessie Vargas is right in this fight. This is his moment; he’s really pumped for this fight.”
Hearn, though, can’t help but look ahead to the next big fight as that is what you do, when you have a major piece of the heavyweight division with Anthony Joshua and a blossoming new relationship with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his team.
“I want to do it at the stadium, that’s the dream. That’s the natural thing to want to do, whether it is Joshua-Fury, Joshua-Wilder, whether it is Canelo-GGG, that would be an amazing thing. We have done huge events in the UK, 90,000, 80,000, 80,000 and to come here and do an outdoor event at Dallas Cowboys would be the dream.”
Hearn does not look like a boxing promoter. He looks like one of those guys you see selling phones in the AT&T or Sprint Store in your local neighborhood. After being used to seeing Don King, Arum, and Haymon, Hearn is a breath of fresh air in the boxing world. I am not saying he is good or bad as a promoter, just pointing out the new guy on the block.
His Jacobs-Chavez venue changing etc was just wrong.