British promoter Eddie Hearn (Matchroom Boxing) continues to exchange verbal jabs with his legendary American colleague Bob Arum (Top Rank).
This time, Eddie tried to explain that he respects Arum and would not get involved in this skirmish if Bob had not begun to publicly criticize his activities, especially in the United States.
“Bob Arum comes out of nowhere and starts to criticize us, although I was just joking,” Hearn explains in an interview with
iFL TV. I said they had a terrible year and it wasn’t Top Rank, it was Top Jerker. You must understand that Top Rank is Bob Arum. And there is no one in this business who moves their company forward as dynamically as the face of Top Rank. But Bob Arum is already 92 years old. I treat him with great respect, at his age he remains in his mind, and he should be given credit for this.
- Bob Arum: “I smoke marijuana at home, and Hearn in the USA is a laughingstock”
“At the same time, they don’t do anything that impresses me,” Eddie notes. — Well, tell us what Top Rank did this year? What are their big shows in the US? They hold their events in small arenas, they have absolutely no ambition. Bob Arum no longer has ambition in boxing, he just wants to make money and get out of the game. Yeah? He and I are at fundamentally different stages in the development of our companies and our thinking.”
“We (Matchroom Boxing) have been incredibly successful in America,” Hearn insists. “Last week we had 9,000 spectators at the Estrada-Gonzalez show. And they didn’t even sell the arena at Lopez Martin. The numbers on ESPN are amazing, but they’re losing faith in Top Rank because they lack ambition. Because Arum is already 92 years old.”
“Anyway, I didn’t start this,” Eddie said. – It was he (Arum) who came out and began to drive at me. So don’t blame me for just protecting myself.”