Matchroom Boxing is continuing to corner the US market, with Jalil Hackett becoming the latest addition to a diverse stable of fighters that currently fights under the Matchroom banner. The American prospect has reportedly joined the British-based outfit in a multi-fight deal that will see him fighting on the DAZN platform in the near future, following the trend of Richardson Hitchins who similarly left Mayweather Promotions to work with Matchroom.
Jalil Hackett (8-0, 7 KO’s) became one of Mayweather Promotions’ (MP) best prospects when he signed with them in 2021, but the American welterweight prospect will be taking his talents elsewhere after a brief period of free agency as he joins Matchroom Boxing.
Matchroom announced its capture of Jalil Hackett on Friday, May 24th, but underneath the signing lies context that has, as of yet, not been thoroughly addressed. Particularly, the fact Hackett is the latest American to join the Matchroom stable, encapsulated by the surprise revelation more than a month ago when former Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) fighter and WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KO’s) was announced to have joined up with Matchroom in a one-fight deal. Come Saturday, Wilder will not only be representing Matchroom as its team captain in a 5 vs. 5 promotional battle between Queensberry Promotions and Matchroom, but his fight with Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 20 KO’s) has also been confirmed as the headliner of the card.
With this move, Hackett further joins former Mayweather Promotions fighter Richardson Hitchins (18-0, KO’s) who notoriously left the PBC-affiliated company to directly join one of their most prevalent rivals in Matchroom Boxing. Though not much was made of Hitchins’ move then, Hackett’s latest inclusion within the Matchroom stable has once again highlighted MP’s failure in keeping its best talents; all while losing them to rival companies.
As a promotional outfit, Mayweather Promotions has yet to truly match the same zenith as its founder and owner, Floyd Mayweather Jr, not helped by the fact MP has a subordinate relationship to PBC; forcing them to rely on the company who dictate when and where its fighters fight. As a result, MP has been unable to stage any event by themselves, depending on PBC to showcase their fighters.
With the PBC’s deal with Amazon Prime depriving fighters aligned to the company from fighting more frequently, Hackett’s choice appears to have been made to accommodate his growing talent; with the 147 lbs prospect having expressed the need to be more active in an interview held a month ago during his period of free agency―as MP was unlikely to be able to offer him the necessary fights to improve, given their dependency on PBC and PBC’s lack of scheduling events this year.
“I’ve talked to a lot of higher-ups [sanctioning bodies] when it comes to ranking guys, and they say [that[ when it comes to prospects, and even contenders, ‘you’re a top 10 guy but the thing that’s keeping you out of the top 10 is inactivity’, and I could do nothing but respect it because it’s very accurate,” Jalil Hackett told YSM Sports Media.
“My last fight was in December [of 2023]. I won the WBC Youth welterweight championship, but that was December. We’re entering up on May now, [I] still haven’t fought. So I felt like the best move was to try free agency and see where that gets [me].”
The lack of scheduling of PBC events, whose deal with Amazon Prime limits it to hold only pay-per-view events rather than additional regular programming through Amazon Prime’s streaming service, stifles many boxers fighting under the PBC banner as their prospects of being active have decreased; which explains the departure of two talented fighters in Richardson Hitchins and Jalil Hackett.
This is further characterized by MP’s inability to attract new fighters, with most PBC-aligned fighters now associated with TGB Promotions who currently still serves as PBC’s main―and unofficial―subsidiary. Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO’s) himself , who is arguably the most popular boxer to fight under the PBC banner, had once upon a time been a MP fighter before he eventually split with the promotion in a bid to take control his own career.
Due to all of the aforementioned circumstances, Hackett’s departure from MP, and therefore PBC, does not come across as an actual surprise, especially with Richardson Hitchins having attained a decent increase in standing within the sport since signing with Matchroom; reflected by his current high-rated position across the sanctioning bodies’ ranking boards. Hitchins is currently ranked highest with the WBO who regards him as the #2 super lightweight contender, opening up an avenue for him to potentially face WBO champion Teofimo Lopez (20-1, 13 KO’s) in the near future.
Jalil Hackett may soon find himself in a similar position, with Matchroom having recently been acknowledged by Forbes as the fifth most valuable combat sports promotion in the world―thereby making it the #1 boxing promotion on the planet.
