Eddie Hearn on Dana White's Zuffa: "There's an arrogance and they're control freaks"

Hearn invited White to Birmingham on Saturday and told Netflix: "Don't try and Americanize this fight too much."

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Thu 1 Oct, 17:46 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Eddie Hearn speaking at a press conference — Photo: IMAGO / AAP

Eddie Hearn says everything Dana White and Zuffa did over Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua made him fight harder, and called them "control freaks".

Hearn has said White was "not permitted" at the Fury vs Joshua press conference. Speaking to The Stomping Ground, he said Zuffa's involvement "would have been a breach of the contract". "When a guy's sitting up there going, I'm the promoter, I know where the fight is. Yeah, we'll see. Ask Eddie Hearn. What do you expect me to do when it's a breach of the agreement?" he said. "I suppose I better just lay down and let them walk all over me and tickle my b*lls. Like, no, obviously not. I'm going to turn around and I'm going to go, f***ing no way, son. Not on my watch. Are you f***ing serious? And everything that they did made me fight harder."

Hearn said White's side should have come to him and Turki Alalshikh, whose The Ring is promoting the fight, and said: "I understand contractually we can't be involved in the event, however Turki Alalshikh, Netflix I think would like us to be involved... sit down with Eddie and Turki... and try and find a solution."

"There's an arrogance and they're control freaks. They don't like it when things don't go their way," he said. He added: "There is an open invitation for Dana White to come to Birmingham on Saturday."

Hearn also had a message for Netflix about its presentation of the fight, including Max Kellerman's role. "I feel like Netflix have got to be just a little bit conscious. Don't try and Americanize this fight too much... the beauty of this fight is the importance of it to the UK," he said.

On Fury, he said: "Tyson Fury's a really interesting character. Sometimes I watch him on Instagram and I think, what a p***k." He said he would still go for a Guinness with him.

Fury and Joshua meet in Cardiff on 11 December. Start times, TV and tickets are on our Fury vs Joshua page.