By Chris Williams: Eddie Hearn ripped into Top Rank promoter Bob Arum on Thursday in ridiculing the ticket sales for his fighter WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford’s last fight against Egidijus Kavaliauskas on December 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hearn says the fight only sold 4,000 tickets.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn was seeing red after Arum criticized his fight cards in the U.S for not selling tickets. Harn says Friday’s Daniel Jacobs vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. card will have a crowd of 10,000, and it could have been 15,000 if not for the uncertainty behind Chavez Jr’s suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The suspension was lifted this week, but a lot of fans didn’t know until then whether Chavez Jr. would be able to take the fight.
Jacobs vs. Chavez Jr. will be fighting on Friday night on December 20 at the Talking Stick Resort Arena, in Phoenix.
Hearn: Crawford’s fight sold 4,000, Jacobs-Chavez Jr. will have double that
“Bob [Arum] came out last week and said, ‘The problem in America is we’re just not selling tickets.’ NO, you’re not selling tickets. That’s the difference,” said Hearn. “Not for everything, but we’re consistently improving our numbers. The pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford, who is a brilliant fighter, sold 4,000 tickets for Madison Square Garden.
“We’ve sold double that for Jacobs-Chavez Jr., a fight that he supposed to be saying is a joke,” said Hearn. “So we’re happy with our ticket sales. Unfortunately, the younger fans can’t relate to Bob Arum. He’s a Hall of Fame brilliant promoter, but the young generation of fans don’t want to listen to him. That’s the truth.
“He’s still got a good mind. He’s a boxing man, and he knows more about boxing than I will ever know,” Hearn continued in talking about Arum. “Unfortunately, he can’t relate to the audience, and that’s why he can’t sell tickets.”
If Crawford’s fight against WBO mandatory Egidijus Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 17 KOs) only sold around 4,000 tickets, as Hearn says, that’s a sign that this was the WRONG opponent and the wrong venue for that fight. If Crawford insists on fighting obscure opposition that the U.S casual boxing fans have never seen or heard of, then he’ll have problems.
He should be fighting guys like Kavaliauskas in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Arum should save places like New York for Crawford to fight when he’s facing a popular fighters.
Arum needs to sit down and keep his mouth shut – Hearn
“When you look at what Bob Arum done over the years, firstly with all his great events, but also when he moved the Margarito fight to another Commission when the guy was perceived to have concrete in his handwraps,” said Hearn to AB Boxing News.
“When Chavez failed a test for marijuana. I think he came out and said the Nevada Commissioner whatever, ‘I’m going to go out and smoke some weed with Chavez.’ It’s just suiting him to have a pop at me. I think Bob is a lot like my dad. They should sit him down now, and tell him, ‘Keep your mouth quiet, because you don’t really know what you’re saying anymore.
“He made some disgusting comments this week about Northern Ireland as well. I mean, bad. You can’t be saying things like that. We would never look to have a fighter fight that was suspended. Chavez has his day in court, and was cleared of any suspension. He’s no longer suspended by Nevada, and the fight goes ahead.
This is hilarious that Hearn is telling Arum he should sit down, and be quiet. Putting him in the same position as his dad, it sounds like Hearn is trying to shut him up.
Hearn says Jacobs vs. Chavez Jr. will have 10,000 fans
“Even the Nevada Commission has really restricted us from achieving what we could achieve on Friday night,” said Hearn in talking about the Chavez Jr. vs. Jacobs fight. “We’re going to have 10,000 for Jacobs-Chavez Jr. We could have had 15-16,000. That’s due to the uncertainty of the fight.
“We’re going to crack on. I respect Bob, he’s a great promoter, but it’s probably time for Carl Moretti and Todd to ‘shhh. Sit down,'” said Hearn about Arum. “I don’t think he likes competition.
“It’s easier for me to say, more competition the better,’ but when you’ve been in the market for so long, and some younger guy comes that’s flashy and loud, you’re probably thinking, ‘Who’s this guy?'” said Hearn.
If 10,000 fans show up on Friday to see Chavez Jr. vs. Jacobs fight, this would be very good numbers. The fight is expected to be a mismatch from start to finish with Jacobs heavily favored.
Chavez Jr. weighing in 4 1/2 pounds over the 168 lb limit on Thursday’s weigh-in obviously isn’t a good sign. Nevertheless, a crowd of 10,000 for Jacobs-Chavez Jr. are great numbers, and it shows that one or both of those fighters are popular.
Eddie’s opinion that the younger boxing fans can’t relate to Arum has nothing to do with the ticket sales for Crawford’s fight. The reason that fight didn’t do big ticket sales is because Crawford was facing a guy that the casual boxing fans had never heard of. The fans that know about boxing gave Egidijus Kavaliauskas not shot at winning due to how poor he’d looked in his previous fight in being held to a draw by Ray Robinson. Crawford should have vacated his WBO belt.
