Longtime boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn, has offered UFC boss, Dana White, some advice ahead of his venture into the world of Boxing.
After teasing at it for several years now with Zuffa Boxing, UFC boss, Dana White revealed last week that he is finally going into the world of boxing promoting.
White has teamed up with Turki Alalshikh to launch new boxing promotion, TKO Boxing, with the plan to run the newly formed boxing league similarly to how the UFC runs.
However, the plans have already been criticised by boxing legends who don’t think it will work, putting White’s and Alalshikh’s backs against the wall immediately.
Eddie Hearn offers Dana White some damning advice
White has been heavily critical of boxing and many of the individuals surrounding the sport over the last several years, and this past Saturday following UFC 313, he admitted that he has a lot of work to do to mend bridges.
However, an influential figure in the sport that he won’t need to mend a relationship with, is Eddie Hearn. The British promoter and White have always been complimentary of each other’s influence in their respective sports, resulting in a decent relationship between the two.
Despite that, following the announcement of TKO boxing, and Alalshikh’s claims that they will ‘crush’ all other boxing promotions, Hearn has warned White that he may have to ‘sleep with one eye open’.
“Boxing is the worst business in the world,” Hearn began to explain in an interview with iFL TV.
“I hope these guys have got the appetite to be up all f—— night and sleep with one eye open every single day. Because you’re not going to get control where you can go to bed at 10 o’clock (at night) and wake up at 8 o’clock (in the morning) and expect the industry and your situation to be exactly the same.
“It doesn’t work like that. Every f—– is out there hustling every single day. Guess what? I’m one of them,” he continued.
Dana White on juggling several combat sports promotions
Despite Hearn’s comments, ultimately, White has done exactly that to build the UFC into the powerhouse that it is today.
Not only that, but the UFC boss continuously claims that his Power Slap promotion will also surpass the UFC in popularity and success.
With White having now added extra work to his already hectic schedule, he has commented on how he will juggle all of his different ventures.
“I thought I was busy, I didn’t realize what busy was until the last couple of weeks,” White admitted in the UFC 313 post-fight press conference.
“We’re gonna find out this year (if I can handle it all), this year is gonna be the… We’re gonna find out this year, we’ll see how long I can run this hard,” he continued.