Eddie Hearn’s retirement date set just days before Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois
Eddie Hearn has established himself as one of the most powerful figures in boxing - but his father Barry believes he doesn't have long left in the game
Barry Hearn has speculated on when his son Eddie might retire from Matchroom Boxing during an episode of his new podcast, The Barry Hearn Show. The 76-year-old established Matchroom Sport in 1982, capitalising on the golden age of snooker with stars like Steve Davis under his management.
He ventured into boxing just five years later, with his first promotion being Frank Bruno's heavyweight fight against Joe Bugner at White Hart Lane. Over the years, Hearn senior has collaborated with some of the top boxers, including legends such as Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Lennox Lewis and Steve Collins among others.
In 2021, after nearly four decades leading Matchroom, Hearn stepped back and handed over control to his son, Eddie, who had mainly been focussing on the boxing side of the business for over a decade. In the past four years, Hearn Jnr has worked closely with heavyweight powerhouse Anthony Joshua, as well as other greats like Canelo Alvarez, Conor Benn and Deontay Wilder.
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Matchroom continues to be a household name in snooker and has also helped elevate darts and more recently pool to unprecedented new heights. Despite all this, Hearn senior thinks that his son may not have much longer left in his career, reports the Mirror.
On The Barry Hearn Show, set to drop sporadically throughout the year with ten 60-minute episodes featuring Barry himself, he was asked about his age and his son's future in light of his own health history: "So you're 76 in June. Eddie's 44. You've had two heart attacks. How long can Eddie Hearn keep this up?"
To which Hearn Snr candidly responded: "I think the modern day accelerates the burnout rather than decelerates. Fortunately, he's living a really good fitness regime. I mean, he's a lump anyway, but he's changed himself over the last twelve months. He's a he's a proper handful.
"But the level of work, the level of intensity, the money involved, the risks, the dangers. Making a wrong decision can cost you millions or tens of millions. I think he's got about six years before he really burns out. I think fifty is gonna be tough. See how he feels. See how he goes. At the moment, he's on the case. He's on the numbers. But how long can you key that up? Time will tell."
As Barry spilt these intimate details, Joshua gears up for a crucial IBF heavyweight title bout with Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium. A win for AJ might position him for a crack at ultimate glory against either Tyson Fury or Usyk, depending on the outcome of their anticipated December rematch.
The upcoming fight is also a fierce territorial battle between the Hearns and Frank Warren, with the latter's fighter 'DDD' representing Queensberry Promotions. Discussing the intense competition between his son Eddie and fellow promoter Warren, Hearn laid it bare: "It's all about money. Sport's about money.
"We all love the passion and the enjoyment and the adrenaline rush. But when it gets down to the real business end, if it doesn't make money, you will lose the attention of the athlete. You will lose the attention of the new markets, the grassroots, the kids. Do you know how many new boxing boxing gyms have opened in Saudi Arabia in the last two years? They had one before. They have about thirty now. Why? Because they're being inspired.
"So when Warren and Hearn get together, there's lots of reasons behind it. Secretly, they're both real boxing fans. They both wanna make the biggest fights, and they both want their bloke to win. That's natural. That's called competition. But when there's the amount of money involved, they would be idiots to rock the boat just because we haven't talked much in ten or fifteen years.
"But I always said to Eddie, you'll get on well with Frank socially. He's a great he's a great guy. But when we're in business, we're competitive b*******. We don't wanna lose an argument, let alone a fight. We wanna support our own fighters. We wanna pull every stroke we can to give ourselves an advantage.
"And Warren's exactly the same. So you can't expect us on a business nature normally to get on. We're competitors. Under this new world, this new regime with Saudi Arabian money coming into the sport like we've never seen before, obviously, you'd be an idiot to rock the boat. This is not a fast train. This is a rocket that's happening in boxing, and we don't wanna be left on the platform with that fast train, do we?"
