Hearn Rates Zuffa Boxing's First Year "Terrible"

Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing has little good to say about Dana White's first year in boxing. His message is that Zuffa Boxing has not lived up to what it said it would be.

The year-end yardstick

Hearn says White's biggest mistake was inviting people to judge his body of work at the end of the year. That moment is here, with one month left, and Hearn says Zuffa has come up well short of what it promised. His wording was far harsher than that.

He also noted a shift. White now asks for five years, while Hearn had understood the timeline to be one year.

The Stevenson problem

Hearn spoke to Fight Hub TV, and the comments were relayed via MMAJunkie. His main example was how quickly Zuffa lost one of the best talents it had signed.

"It's a disaster. I don't know what happened, but it's not really my business."

In Hearn's telling, the promotion wanted to make history in the sport and did so, because nobody had ever signed with a promotional company and then never fought.

That talent was Shakur Stevenson, who was released without ever fighting for Zuffa Boxing. Conor Benn was the other early signing. He lost his first world title fight to Ryan Garcia, and it was over within two rounds.

Some grace, but not much

Hearn admits he still gives Zuffa some grace, since the company is young, but he is not happy with how it began. He said they have done some really poor work.

He does not expect the company to disappear. It is big, he said, and it is not going anywhere. His verdict on the present is another matter.

"But at the moment, they're terrible, and they're ruining fighters' careers, as well."

Hearn did not say, in the comments relayed here, which fighters he means. No response from White or Zuffa Boxing was included either.

For context, White built his name over two decades of running MMA. Boxing is the arena where his results are now being questioned.

Source: BJPenn.com