The Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua feud with the most trash talk right now has nothing to do with Fury or Joshua. Dana White and Eddie Hearn have been sniping at each other so relentlessly over the Dec. 11 heavyweight fight in Cardiff, Wales, that ClutchPoints ran an exclusive Tuesday saying the UFC boss and the Matchroom Boxing chief had been suggested to trade shots for real. Nobody has signed a bout agreement. Nobody is going to. But the fact that it’s being floated at all tells you how far this thing has spiraled.
The latest round of insults came from White. HITC reported that White laid out how he plans to take over boxing and took aim at Hearn by calling him weak. The Sun reported that White also said Hearn isn’t the guy and accused him of being a nepo baby.
Hearn has been swinging just as hard. At a press conference Saturday, he went straight at White’s claim that the UFC team would run the broadcast, which is airing on Netflix. Per MMA Fighting, Hearn said he thinks White is completely cooked at this point. He said the TV production White described is prohibited in the contract, and he even claimed he started to feel bad for him.
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Hearn also said he checked with SELA, the Saudi-based company funding the event. He told IFL.tv that SELA confirmed in writing that White’s claims were nonsense, and he said White has completely lost the plot. To back it up, he dropped a video compiling White’s past comments about the fight. He kept the receipts.
White stuck to his position after UFC 332 in Salt Lake City. At the post-fight press conference, he said he will be there and that his team is producing the show, comparing it to what the UFC crew did for Canelo-Crawford. He named Craig Borsari and the rest of his team, then signed off by saying he’s producing it, he’s promoting it and he’ll see everyone in Wales.
The paper trail is a mess for both sides. White was mentioned in the Netflix press release announcing the fight, Cageside Press noted, but he skipped the first press conference. Hearn has said Joshua’s contract forbids White’s involvement. White also claimed he knew where the fight was landing before the announcement and said Madison Square Garden. It’s in Cardiff. Hearn has revealed a meeting set for this week, and White said he isn’t part of it. EssentiallySports reported that Fury’s promoter has also clarified his stance on White’s involvement.
This all bled into UFC 332 fight week too. MMA Mania wrote that Fury-Joshua was the topic of the week while White struggled to remember specifics about Wang Cong, who headlined against Natalia Silva. That card ended up setting the all-time UFC record for knockouts on a single event, which is a pretty good night to spend answering boxing questions.
My take: I love this. Two promoters acting like heel champions in a press conference war is more entertaining than half the undercards we get sold. But Hearn is winning on points right now. He has a contract, a confirmation from the money people and a highlight reel of White’s own words. White has the confidence and the Canelo-Crawford comparison, and his Madison Square Garden call already blew up in his face. If his crew is actually running the truck in Cardiff on Dec. 11, he gets the last laugh. If he’s sitting in the crowd with his little phone on the table and no headset, Hearn gets to dance on this one for years.
