Eddie Hearn says time is running out on lucrative boxing match: ‘It’s so tedious at times’

Top boxing promoter Eddie Hearn believes the clock is ticking on making one long-requested fight a reality.

If there’s one topic combat sports fans dread talking about, it’s fights that could have been. Boxing purists have been wondering if the ship has sailed on matchups such as Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua. In the MMA world, bouts that didn’t come to fruition such as Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva are often discussed to this day.

One of those “what if” fights in the boxing world still has some juice behind it, but Hearn feels it could be a matter of now or never.

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Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn? Eddie Hearn Says Time is Running Out

(via PA Images)

Boxing fans, particularly those following the UK scene closely, have been clamoring for a long-awaited showdown between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn. There is plenty of bad blood to make this one a lucrative event, but neither side has agreed to the terms of a potential fight after their initial bout was postponed.

Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn told BoxingScene.com that it’s gotten to the point where he’s almost ready to move on.

“If we’re going to make the Eubank fight it’ll be made by the end of the weekend,” he told BoxingScene. “You’ve got The Ring Magazine awards in London – everybody’s in London.

“We’re only talking about that fight happening in the UK. I’ve found it very difficult to make that fight. When we first made the fight, they didn’t really hate each other. They weren’t friends. They’d both got famous fathers – it made a lot of sense. Now no one wants to give an inch, and it’s so tedious at times.

“I’ve been there before. [Carl] Frampton-[Scott] Quigg. [Amir] Khan-[Kell] Brook. AJ [Anthony Joshua]-[Tyson] Fury. It’s so difficult to get everybody to agree. I’ve been speaking to Ben Shalom every day for the last seven days, and Turki Alalshikh likes the fight as well – maybe he can get everybody together to make it happen. But I think if we’re going to, it’ll be the next seven days.”

Politics has long been a major criticism of the boxing world. Whether it’s fights happening past career primes or not happening at all, the sport of boxing has been plagued by athletes having their stock protected rather than figuring out who the best in the world truly is. Things have been looking up, however.

We’ve seen fights such as Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence Jr. and Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury come to fruition at the right time. Will Eubank and Benn be able to come to terms to make their clash happen when it should?