Hearn talks Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell & Lomachenko vs. Lopez

By Boxing News - 08/03/2020 - Comments

By Kenneth Friedman: Eddie Hearn wants to try and get a deal done by the end of this week for the Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell WBC ordered lightweight contest to avoid a looming purse bid, which could take place later in the week.

The Campbell-Garcia negotiations aren’t looking good right now, and Hearn is hoping he can find a way to make it happen.

Ryan (20-0, 17 K.O.s) wants a lot of money for the contest that is not doable given the absence of crowds for the event. So for the match between ‘Kingry’ Garcia and Campbell (20-3, 16 K.O.s) to take place, Ryan will need to be realistic and come down in his asking price.

Hearn feels that the 21-year-old Garica is in a tight spot because if he doesn’t get this fight made, boxing fans will think he’s ducking, and that’s not a good look. Additionally, this would be the second consecutive instance where Garcia has failed to negotiate a fight.

Last month, Golden Boy wanted Ryan to fight on July 4th, but he turned down the offer made to him, and the plans for that card were subsequently scrapped.

It would be disappointing for boxing fans if the Garcia vs. Campbell fight doesn’t get made, seeing that there’s a massive amount of interest in the match on social media.

Hearn has also noticed how many people are talking about the match-up, and he understands it’s a great fight. But at the same time, Ryan’s asking price is too high for him to get it done.

Garcia vs. Campbell negotiations not looking good

“I made them an offer, and they wanted a bit more,” said Hearn to Boxing Social about an offer he made to Ryan Garcia’s promoters at Golden Boy for the Campbell fight.

Image: Hearn talks Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell & Lomachenko vs. Lopez

“They wanted an amount that’s not achievable. It wasn’t an outrageous request, to be honest with you. It’s just difficult at the moment to find a model for a fight like that to work.

“Is it America, or is it here in the U.K.? Does the deal change for either man if the country changes? I haven’t really gone into too much details with Luke [Campbell] and Shane [McGuigan] and the team there yet because we need to know if Ryan Garcia will take the fight.

“Then we’ll look at that.  Luke and Shane have made it clear to me that they’re more than happy to step up in that fight. Ryan Garcia appears to be. We will get to a stage soon where we’ll have purse bids, and then we’ll see where we go with it.

“I think it’s a wonderful fight. Sometimes you can tell by social media reaction the interest in a fight, and the interest in that fight was absolutely huge. So for me, that could be one of the best fights of 2020.

“I think the purse bids are coming by the end of this week. Something like that. So we have to try and reach a deal this week,’ said Hearn.

The situation sounds bleak as Hearn describes it, and it could be that Ryan and Campbell need to move on and wait until 2021 or later to meet.

Campbell-Garcia is the type of fight that needs a crowd to take full advantage of the amount of interest there is in the match.

Ryan Garcia wants a lot of money

“He’ll want a lot of money for that fight,” said Hearn on Ryan Garcia, wanting to be paid well for the Campbell match. “It’s a very dangerous fight, and I see him getting beat in that fight as well.

Image: Hearn talks Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell & Lomachenko vs. Lopez

“It’s a very tough spot for them [Team Ryan] because when a fight like that gets ordered if you duck the fight, he’s already got the reputation that he’s a social media fighter.

“I don’t agree with that. I think he’s a very, very good fighter. But still with a lot of questions to be answered, but [trainer] Eddy Reynoso certainly believes in him. Eddy Reynoso is a fantastic trainer, and he knows what he’s doing.

“So it isn’t a world title fight, but he [Ryan] is a big name. But Luke Campbell is a big name. He had a great battle with Vasiliy Lomachenko, and he’s one of the top lightweights in the world.

“Ryan Garcia wants more money than someone with his record would warrant, but you’re not just taking into consideration his record. You’re taking into consideration his following, which is impressive,’ continued Hearn.

For Ryan to take a fight with Campbell, he’s going to want more significant money than what he’s been getting for his matches against lower-level opposition. It’s too risky of a fight for Garcia to accept less than what he’s looking to get.

So if you look at it from Ryan’s perspective, it makes sense for him not to accept what he considers a substandard offer. Ryan has a lot to lose in this fight, and he can’t afford to have his career destroyed for less than colossal money.

Campbell was given a bigger offer to face Loma than Teofimo

“I know a little bit more about the dynamics with the money and the situation we’re in, but the problem is fighters have been vastly overpaid over the last two years. Good luck to them,” said Hearn.

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“I was one of the problems, [Bob] Arum keeps telling me. But as much as I was a problem, he started spending more money to try and battle it out with me and then [Al] Haymon.

“We’re all toe blame, really. The problem is the money that’s been floating around the last two years if the offer is $1.2 million is correct, it’s not a lot of money,” said Hearn on the offer that IBF lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez was given to face Lomachenko.

“In fact, it’s poor money for a guy that is a world champion. We’re not talking about a challenger. Luke Campbell got more money than that to fight Lomachenko. He was a mandatory challenger.

“You’re talking about a world champion in Vasiliy Lomachenko. You’re talking about a very good fighter who is putting his whole career on the line against Vasiliy Lomachenko,” said Hearn.

That’s troubling what Hearn says about Campbell being paid more for the Lomachenko fight than the $1.2 million offer being made to Teofimo Lopez. When you hear that amount and compare it to what other fighters like Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury, and Canelo Alvarez get, it isn’t reassuring

. You can’t blame Teofimo for not accepting the offer made to him by Top Rank because he can get more by letting the fight with Loma marinate a year or two.

Right now, everyone is betting on a vaccine being produced that will take care of the virus situation, but that may not work fast enough to allow fans back into events by 2021.

Hearn: The $1.2 million offer to Teofimo is terrible

“If he loses, he loses his world championship. I actually thought, and I don’t mind saying this, I would have had a couple of defenses if I’m Teofimo Lopez because I felt the jury was out for Teofimo Lopez, and then he came out and blasted out Richard Commey,” said Eddie.

Image: Hearn talks Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell & Lomachenko vs. Lopez

“I was like, ‘Okay, this guy is the real deal.’ But really, where we are at the moment, and I know the fight fans are dying for big fights to come back. That fight [Lomachenko vs. Teofimo] is only going to get bigger and bigger.

“No one knows who Teofimo Lopez is in America yet really, and Lomachenko, as good as he is, he’s no superstar in America. So for me, that’s the undisputed fight, it’s one of the biggest fights in the division.

“It’s one of the biggest fights in boxing. So if you’re saying that one of the biggest fights in boxing today and an existing world champion [Teofimo] should only get $1.2 million to fight the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world [Lomachenko], it looks like a terrible offer,” Hearn said.

Top Rank isn’t in the position to come up with what could potentially be $6 million to pay the combined purses for Lomachenko and Teofimo.

They would still need to come up with a lot of money to pay for the undercard fighters as well, and that’s not doable given the absence of crowds.

Lomachenko vs. Teofimo isn’t a PPV worthy fight

“I don’t know if it’s true,” Eddie said of the $1.2 million offered to Teofimo Lopez. “By the way, it’s not easy right now. If Top Rank wants to make that fight, they have to do it with no crowds. It’s just not a pay-per-view fight in America.

Image: Hearn talks Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell & Lomachenko vs. Lopez

“And it’s just not. It’s a brilliant, brilliant fight, but how many buys does it do? I don’t think it does 50,000 buys. So you’ve got to get ESPN to front the money with no crowd.

“Lomachenko is on three and a half, four million, and Lopez wants a couple of million. So you’re in for that before you put an undercard on before you pay the costs for that. Where’s the money coming from?

“I don’t blame Top Rank. I’m not saying Top Rank is making an unfair offer. I’m just saying in the landscapes that we’ve seen, and you look at Campbell, and you look at those kinds of guys, Haney and what these guys are making, you can’t think of possibly accepting that fight for that kind of money,” said Hearn.

Eddie is right on about the Lomachenko vs. Teofimo fight not being a PPV worthy fight in 2020. While the 22-year-old Teofimo is an incredible talent, he hasn’t been around long enough for the casual boxing fans in the U.S. to get to know him.

Lomachenko hasn’t had enough interesting opponents for him to build his brand in the states. Had Loma taken some risks with his career by moving up to 140 to take on Terence Crawford, Josh Taylor, Jose Ramirez, or Regis Prograis, he’d be a more prominent name. Lomachenko hasn’t made the right move with his career. Hence, he’s failed to achieve the stardom that his promoters at Top Rank had hoped.