Eddie Hearn tells Mike Coppinger 'you're on the payroll' and he replies: 'I am on the payroll'
Hearn called Fury v Joshua 'the worst undercard in the history of a mega fight' and said Zuffa Boxing had put on 'the biggest pile of trash I've ever seen'.
Eddie Hearn told Mike Coppinger "you're on the payroll" during a row about Dana White and Zuffa Boxing on The Ring's Inside the Ring show, and Coppinger answered: "I am on the payroll."
Hearn then asked him whether he worked for Zuffa and in what capacity, and Coppinger said he works on their broadcasts. "No wonder you won't say how it is. Get him out of the studio," Hearn said.
The Matchroom boss had turned on Coppinger in a discussion about White, who runs Zuffa Boxing. "Do you know what you are? You're a company man, right?" Hearn said. "Show me what they've done, Coppinger." When Coppinger said it was early days, Hearn told him: "Stop being a company man and speak the truth."
Coppinger said Zuffa was working to "a 3 to 5 year plan". Hearn said: "They have put on the biggest pile of trash I've ever seen." He added: "You're a Zuffa employee."
Hearn pressed him on Carlos Adames v Gerome Warburton, the Zuffa Boxing 13 main event in Riyadh on Saturday 14 November, and told him he "should speak neutrally". Coppinger called it "a stay-busy fight".
Coppinger reminded Hearn that he had said White would not be involved with Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua, and said White "has 2 undercard slots". Hearn said: "He's put on the worst undercard in the history of a mega fight." He added: "You've got the biggest fight in the history of our country and you haven't got one Brit on the undercard." Coppinger did later give Hearn credit for his work with Joshua, calling theirs "one of the most successful fighter-promoter relationships of all time".
Fury v Joshua is at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Friday 11 December, live on Netflix. Turki Alalshikh has announced Deontay Wilder v Jai Opetaia, Da'Mazion Vanhouter v Michael Essomba and Martin Bakole v Solomon Adebayo for the card so far, with more fights to come.
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