Eddie Hearn is angry, and Dana White is the reason. Boxing News 24 reported that Hearn raged after a heavyweight the outlet labeled “Dana White’s Heavyweight Phenom” was slotted onto the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua card, taking a spot that had been Joe Cordina’s.
That’s where the confirmed record stops. Knockout Daily hasn’t seen Hearn’s exact words, so nothing goes inside quotation marks for him here. The reporting we’ve seen also doesn’t name the heavyweight. Hearn’s position, per the report, is that Cordina got bumped. That’s Hearn’s read of the decision, and nobody on the other side has publicly answered it in anything we’ve reviewed.
The friction makes sense once you look at White’s résumé. He’s been running the UFC since the Fertittas bought it for $2 million in 2001, became CEO in 2023 when the company was folded into TKO Group Holdings, and in 2025 he co-founded Zuffa Boxing, where he serves as promoter. That turned him from a guy who used to talk about boxing into a guy who promotes it. Hearn now has a rival who can apparently get a heavyweight onto the biggest card on the board.
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White has also had a strange week. On Nov. 9, multiple accounts on X posted that President Trump brought him into the White House press briefing room. Championship Rounds quoted White telling reporters, “I’ve always wanted to do this. Who has the first question?” Aaron Rupar wrote on X that the briefing ended with White turning down the press secretary job. Three days later, he’s at the center of a boxing undercard fight. The man doesn’t take weeks off.
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My take: I’ll defend a heavyweight on a heavyweight card all day, because big men selling a big night is matchmaking 101. Losing a booked slot on a show this size still stings for any fighter, though, and Hearn isn’t wrong to make noise for his guy. If anything, he’s doing his job.
The next thing to watch is whether Cordina lands on another date or gets folded back onto this card somewhere. Until somebody names the heavyweight and Hearn’s full comments surface, this stays a promoter’s grievance looking for a paper trail.
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