Eddie Hearn boxing photos made him think he'd die and forced him to be different person
Eddie Hearn has never been afraid of a battle but one of his toughest ones was actually against himself
Eddie Hearn has admitted the fear of death is what inspired his dramatic weight loss. The boxing chief's hectic and almost nomadic lifestyle began to take its toll on his body ever since he started by promoting Audley Harrison in 2010.
The draining journeys to the likes of the United States, Mexico and Saudi Arabia often left the 44-year-old eating unhealthily throughout the day before unwinding with some drinks in the evening. But after his father Barry Hearn suffered a heart attack in 2002 and 2020, Hearn realised that his lifestyle could send him to an early grave.
Yet, the mega fights kept coming as did the boxing stars Matchroom signed. Instead of slowing down the business, he embarked on a life-changing fitness journey to overhaul his health.
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During an interview with Mirror Sport, while promoting Johnny Fisher's bout against Alen Babic on Saturday, Hearn said: "I look back on pictures of me at press conferences and I see a different person. It was my face. All my weight would be in my face.
"When you're travelling all the time and you're going out drinking and you're not sleeping, you just look more and more s***. You’ll put a nice suit on and you just think ‘F*** me that's tight’ and you just don't feel good. Success to me used to be doing a huge show and making a fortune. Or maybe try and buy myself a nice car or get a house looking like this.
"Now it's actually how I feel when I wake up. That's success. If I feel good that means I feel like I'm having success. The health thing just changed everything. I was thinking ‘We're having more shows than ever, the business is moving at a faster pace than ever, we've got so much to do, I will die'.
"My dad had a heart attack at 48, his dad died at 44, his dad died at 45 all from heart disease. I'm 6ft 5in and walking around, I was f***ing 19.5 stone. So it's like, ‘There is no way you can work at this pace and survive so you’ve gotta do something about it'."
Hearn lost two-and-a-half stone in 18 months and is still trying to shift the pounds. He works with a personal trainer who accompanies him to all his events around the world and also trains his employees and colleagues.
Despite all of that, he admits that he is far from satisfied with his condition. He added: "I think if you look in the mirror and you like what you see, it changes your mood and losing that weight, you know I've still got a long way to go, really makes a difference.
"I've battled my weight, I'm still battling it now, probably since I was 14 or 15. I had an injury. I used to play a lot of sports and I had a stress fracture in my foot. I didn't play sport for six months and I put on a load of weight.
"I used to joke with my mate, saying 'It's a constant battle just to stay fat'. But at the time, when I was overweight and unhealthy, to me, I looked unbelievable because I've got a big ego. It's only when I look back at the photos now, I go 'F***ing hell, oh my God.'"
Matchroom's Eddie Hearn presents Fisher-Babic, live on DAZN, this Saturday at the Copper Box
