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Eddie Hearn is a lot of things, but he’s now, apparently, a shoe-shine boy?
Hearn, via interview with Sean Zittel, speaking of his gleeful subservience to Saudi boxing takeover figurehead, Turki Alalshikh:
“I have a big ego, but I’m humble enough to know that this is another level and I have no problem working for His Excellency. If he asked me to clean his shoes, I would probably do it…I know what the opportunities are for the fighters, for me personally, and for the business…Some people say, ‘you sell out’…no…that’s just life. That’s the way I’ve been brought up. Understand the opportunity and work for the money, the opportunity…I don’t mind being, like, you know…[a shit-head…a boot-licker…a con man…a whore? I’m not sure where he was going when he trailed off].
“I’m going in there, I’m doing my job, I’m promoting the show…Matchroom is doing well, the fighters are doing incredibly well, the card’s incredible, the fans are winning, yet, still, people want to fight against it, like it’s something that’s bad.”
Hearn is not the only shoe-shine boy in the boxing business. I’m sure Frank Warren would clean up Turki’s Testonis real nice, with just the right bit of saliva for the perfect shine. Bob Arum would probably do the same, if he could get his rickety back that low. And I don’t want to know what Oscar De La Hoya would do for Turki to show his fealty—maybe something involving kitchen utensils?
The rich and powerful making people dance for their amusement is nothing new. And, in the wake of Hearn’s “shoe cleaning” quote, a lot of people have been talking about how the bartering of one’s pride, ego, and dignity goes hand in hand with “getting that bag.”
We can save that debate for another day and, certainly, another forum.
What I want to point out in this particular boxing context is that none of these boxing business people scrambling to un-scuff Turki’s shoes and fighting for the chance to toss his salad are poor or in dire need of emergency payouts.
These are all millionaires scrambling to please the Saudi state, grovelling at Turki’s feet, head down, as they shakily offer up the keys to their own businesses.
Many of the fights that the Saudis, via Alalshikh, have provided for would’ve been made anyway…and, certainly, all of them COULD’VE been made without the wave of blood money pushing them through.
That narrative of the Saudis making all things possible is a wholly purchased narrative. After all, these promoters still have to make fights to keep their businesses going. It’s not like boxing would’ve stopped if Turki had never come around.
The only difference with Turki and the Saudis aboard is that these promoters are getting guaranteed money on top of the money they usually skim off the hard work of the fighters they represent. THAT is why the suits adore their little Turki-worky. That’s, literally, the only reason. They are being paid to sell out the sport and they are just fucking ecstatic about it.
My point here is that this sell-out– which hands the boxing reins to a murderous monarchy with a history of dubious dealings and pushes the sport towards any number of existential crises– was optional.
When Hearn boasted in the Zittel interview about the air of cooperation and love-of-boxing at the Ring Magazine awards gala, it was actually a self-own.
If these people loved the sport and didn’t have too big of an ego to operate in its best interest, where were they before the Saudis made them belly dance for cash?
This just shows you how unfit these people are for doing what they do and how weak their dedication to the sport actually is. It shouldn’t come as any surprise, but most of these people are just carny grifters grifting, taking free money from the ultimate money mark for something they should be doing anyway.
But, in the process, they are breaking the sport by alienating the consumer base. They’ve allowed shows to be shipped off to the other side of the planet, thousands of miles, literally and culturally, away from where the sport’s biggest and most vital consumers are. They are also allowing their own fighter crops to be harvested perpetually without any plan to farm for the future.
All of this is very telling– telling in that the Saudis are clearly not working with an eye on the future and the Western promoters really couldn’t give a shit about the future.
When the Saudis lose interest in hemorrhaging money on boxing and shift their investments elsewhere or when Turki “disappears” after saying the wrong thing to the wrong person, we should look at these promoters for what they are. They could’ve done better in giving us a better product, but they chose not to…until the worst possible people bribed them with extra cash to do their fucking jobs.
I don’t blame the fighters for grabbing at the loot. Their time is limited and they can make a good chunk of change right now from the Saudis who are intent on overpaying to establish a monopoly. With the promoters distracted, grabbing at bills inside the Saudi cash-blowing money booth, the fighters also don’t have to worry quite so much about having their pockets picked.
The fighters’ good fortune now, however, will be future generations’ bad fortune as an open market. slowly slams shut. But, again, that’s a topic for another day.
All of this highlights the fact that the boxing world is a weird, weird place. The athletes are among the hardest, baddest people in the world. But those calling the shots? They are beyond weak, like…like, well, like some grown-ass millionaire bragging about his willingness to clean a wealthier man’s shoes.
Got something for Magno? Send it here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com
