Eddie Hearn explains Matchroom's absence in Devin Haney fight purse bid: "Wasn’t a fight DAZN were motivated by or one that had any value"
Eminent boxing promoter Eddie Hearn recently clarified the reasoning behind opting to stay out of the purse bidding for the Devin Haney and Sandor Martin clash.
Las Vegas-based boxing promotion company Top Rank emerged as the sole party to allocate $2.4 million to secure the boxing bout between Devin Haney and Sandor Martin. 'The Dream,' who's coming off a loss to Ryan Garcia is obligatorily mandated to take on Martin. Both fighters were assigned a 30-day negotiation period to the two parties and barred from exploring other matchup opportunities.
The 25-year-old was seemingly outraged by the lack of bidding interest, particularly from Matchroom, where Hearn serves as the chairman.
Hearn clarified the reasoning behind the decision to combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani, noting that it's not "an appealing fight." He stated:
"We don’t have a contract with Devin. It’s not an appealing fight, wasn’t a fight DAZN were motivated by or one that had any value. Devin is a free agent and has his own promotional company.”
Check out the tweet below:
As for the bid from Top Rank, they submitted an offer of $2,420,000 in the purse bid hearing. 10 percent of that amount equaling $242,000 will be placed into escrow as a win bonus. For the remaining $2,178,000, Haney is entitled to 70 percent ($1,524,600) as the defending titlist. The remaining 30 percent will go to Martin ($653,400) as the mandatory challenger.
Enraged by bidding fiasco, Devin Haney declares two years away from the sport
The lack of bidding offers for the stipulated Devin Haney vs. Sandor Martin clash is not sitting well with the American boxing star. He was last seen inside the ring in a majority decision loss to Ryan Garcia in April 2024.
While he lost the fight, he retained the WBC super lightweight title since Garcia missed weight. In recent developments from the ongoing bidding fiasco, it seems like Haney is on the verge of dropping his 140-pound belt since Top Rank won the right to stage the showcase with an offer falling short of his standard compensation.
'The Dream' took to X to launch a series of tweets reacting to the news, even going as far as to claim that he might take some time away from the sport. He wrote:
"I'mma take some time.. spend some of my money.. travel the world & I’ll be back in two years after Ryan's suspension & we can fight again."
Check out the tweet below: