Eddie Hearn taunts “money over legacy” Chris Eubank Jr. after sharing 12-month hit-list
Eddie Hearn has not turned his back on working with Chris Eubank Jr. to negotiate a deal to fight Conor Benn, despite the Matchroom Boxing chairman's past frustrations in dealing with 'NextGen'.
Benn and Eubank Jr. were previously scheduled to fight in October 2022. However, less than a week before fight night, 'The Destroyer' tested positive for ostarine in a drug test, and the bout was canceled.
After serving a suspension, Benn returned against Rodolfo Orozco, whom he defeated via decision. He followed that up with another decision victory, this time over Peter Dobson.
Eubank Jr. has gone 1-1 since his scheduled clash with Benn. He has faced Liam Smith in consecutive fights, losing the first via TKO before exacting revenge by securing a KO win in their rematch.
'NextGen' recently appeared on Sky Sports, where he shared a 12-month hit list that included both 'The Destroyer' and Billy Joe Saunders. Benn's promoter, Hearn, was asked for his thoughts on the hit list during an interview with iFL TV and said this:
"[Money] is all he cares about. He ain't bothered about legacy, he ain't bothered about championships. He wants the money! And the money is to fight Conor Benn... If you want the money, let's play. And we will play"
Watch Eddie Hearn respond to Chris Eubank Jr. below (7:35):
Eddie Hearn annoyed by IBF ordering Jaron Ennis to face mandatory challenger
Eddie Hearn has taken aim at the IBF for their decision to order welterweight champion Jaron Ennis to fight the mandatory challenger, Karen Chukhadzhian.
Ennis was awarded the IBF world title after former undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford was stripped of the belt by the sanctioning body for not agreeing to fight 'Boots' — Crawford's mandatory challenger at the time.
Should the new IBF champion hope not to be stripped, he will need to face Chukhadzhian, much to the frustration of Ennis' promoter, Hearn. The Matchroom Boxing chairman explained his annoyance during a recent interview with Boxing News, saying this:
"The mandatory has been called. I'm not over the moon about it, because it's a good fighter in Chukhadzhian, but it's someone that he's boxed before. There's nothing we can do in terms of the mandatory that's been called. But we want to make the biggest fights out there, so it's frustrating. If it's a fight that has to be ticked off quickly, well, we'll do it."
Catch Eddie Hearn's comments below (14:20):