Making an appearance on MMA reporter Ariel Helwani’s podcast, MMAFightingOnBSN, Oscar De La Hoya has come out debunking the notion that Eddie Hearn was involved with the fight between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia. While Hearn’s promotional outfit of Matchroom Boxing is listed as a co-promoter on BoxRec and Hearn himself has appeared at the introductory press conference representing Haney as his promoter, De La Hoya claimed that Hearn did not play any significant role in the negotiations between the two American super lightweights.
With Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s) and Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s) set to fight on April 20th, Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn was thought to be co-promoting alongside Golden Boy founder and chairman Oscar De La Hoya while representing Haney. However, according to De La Hoya, Hearn had no influence in the fight between Haney and Garcia actually materializing and is not currently regarded as a promoter of Haney.
“Eddie Hearn had nothing to do with the fight,” De La Hoya firmly told Ariel Helwani.
“See, Eddie Hearn is partners with DAZN USA. So I’m sure they’re throwing a few crumbs at him. The DAZN people called me up and saying, ‘hey, just let him up there’. What the f*** is he going to be up there for? Isn’t it uncomfortable for him to put his face there and have nothing to do with it?“
When asked on whether Haney had contractual obligations to Matchroom following the Haney-Prograis fight, Oscar De La Hoya denied that was the case, stating: “No, zero, whatsoever.“
De La Hoya’s assertion that Hearn has no stake in the Haney-Garcia fight might not be entirely accurate, as Hearn has been actively promoting the bout and his public appearance at the press conference between the two American 140-lbsers does suggest he has some sort of role. Additionally, the beforementioned listing of Matchroom as a co-promoter seems to indicate that this isn’t a sole Golden Boy production.
As Devin Haney has worked with Eddie Hearn before when he fought under the Matchroom banner for his title fight against Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KO’s)―and when he fought for the UK-based promotion from 2019 to 2021, it is not out of the realm of possibility that this is again the case for Haney’s upcoming fight with Ryan Garcia, despite De La Hoya’s claims. However, the actual negotiations that took place between Haney’s and Garcia’s teams did not include Hearn, according to De La Hoya.
Nevertheless, the Matchroom brand has been featured extensively alongside Golden Boy‘s for the event, which further suggests Matchroom is formally involved in the fight. Moreover, Eddie Hearn’s role as a promoter does not focus solely on negotiations―as the title of ‘promoter’ suggests, and whether Matchroom played a pivotal role in negotiations or not, they can still play a pivotal role in the promoting aspect as seemed to be the case following Hearn’s appearance at the Haney-Garcia press conference.
