By Jack Tiernan: Eddie Hearn dropped a bombshell on Thursday, telling the media that he’s retiring from his job as a promoter by the time he reaches age 50.
Hearn says he won’t want to deal with the aggravation any longer at that point in his life, and he plans to sit on the beach without dealing with the stress involved in boxing.
The 42-year-old Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn announced his plans to retire in eight years while teeing off on Top Rank promoter Bob Arum over his recent comments about women’s boxing.
Arum remarked recently during an interview when asked about his worry about staging the Oscar Valdez vs. Shakur Stevenson super featherweight unification fight on the same night as the women’s battle between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano on April 30th.
Arum then said that people don’t pay attention to women’s fights. Since making that comment, Arum has been criticized heavily by boxing fans and the media.
“I don’t know much about it. I’ve heard that it’s s contractual lawsuit. It’s a mess,” said Eddie Hearn to Fighthype on Terence Crawford’s lawsuit against Bob Arum.
“The problem with Bob is, and I like Bob, he don’t give a f*** what he says,” Hearn continued. “To come out and say what he said about women’s boxing the other day, that’s a bad look and a bad look for ESPN.
“Maybe he doesn’t care. That’s his honest opinion. So in a way, you’ve got to respect that a little bit. But I remember when he stood up with Crawford and basically said on live TV that the guy is too expensive and he’s not worth the money.
“You can’t do that. You’ve got to champion your fighter at all moments, especially against a global audience, but he doesn’t care anymore. There’s a lot to be said about telling the truth, your truth.
“I just want to make it clear that if by the time I’m 60, not 90, 60, and I’m still standing here with you f****, doing interviews, moaning, ‘he said that, and he said that,’ no! Shoot me. Get me out of here.
“But again, you can only respect Bob Arum. He’s 90-years-old, but there has to come a point where you must. He must love it, and I respect that as well.
“The aggravation in this business is 24/7. So when I get to 50, which is eight years before, probably, maybe even before, I’m f**** off. You’ll never see me again. I’m going to go sit on a beach.
“Listen, it’s an addiction. This sport is so addictive to be a part of, but the aggravation 24/7. Phone calls during the night, time away from the family, bad moods, people trying to f*** you all the time, like people saying this, he said that. But we love to win.
“I’m 50 and out,” said Hearn on him retiring at age 50.
Arum’s comments on Taylor vs. Serrano:
“As good a fight as that is, come on. Whatever it is, the people don’t particularly pay attention to the women’s fights,” said Arum to iFL TV when asked if he’s concerned with a schedule conflict between his unification fight between 130-lb champion Oscar Valdez & Shakur Stevenson with the women’s match on April 30th between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano.
“The answer is ESPN made the schedule, and they couldn’t care less,” Arum continued. “I don’t want to denigrate fights, I don’t want to be accused of being anti-women in sports, but I’m telling you that this is like the Premier League against women’s football.
“April 30th, yeah. Of course,” said Arum when asked if he still plans to go ahead with the Stevenson vs. Valdez fight on April 3oth despite it conflicting with the Taylor vs. Serrano fight.
