Daniel Dubois vs. Anthony Joshua was one of the hottest events of the year, and a ticket request led to a heated confrontation between Eddie Hearn and Devin Haney.
The Matchroom Boxing promoter was already upset with Haney after the boxing champion went public with a request for tickets this past Saturday, blasting Hearn for allegedly not hooking him up on fight day. Hearn responded accordingly, telling Haney to “ask someone else and drop the arrogance.”
Cooler heads did not prevail when Haney eventually made it into London’s Wembley Stadium as he and Hearn were caught on camera arguing in the arena. Hearn told Boxing News that the conversation was not friendly as he felt that Haney’s behavior needed to be addressed.
“It was heated,” Hearn said. “I just couldn’t believe—bear in mind the relationship that I’ve got with Devin, bear in mind everything that we’ve been through—I could not believe he would put that out on social media. Because he was moaning and this is what he was trying to say to me, I said, ‘No, no.’
“I received a message from him at 6 a.m. on the day of the fight saying, ‘I need tickets for Joshua.’ He messaged me about 24 hours before saying, ‘Yo.’ And I had so much going on, I didn’t reply. Then when I replied Friday night, he messaged me back Saturday at 6:00 in the morning, 7:00 in the morning, ‘I need tickets for tonight.’”
Hearn claims he made it clear that the majority of the ringside tickets were handled by Saudi Arabian boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh, whose Riyadh Season helped bankroll the Dubois-Joshua fight, and that several seats were occupied by associates of the fighters competing on Saturday night.
When Hearn told Haney he may have to ask Riyadh Season representatives for a ticket instead, he didn’t receive a reply. Not in private, anyway.
“So then I’m sitting there at the show and it’s like, ‘Wow, Eddie Hearn didn’t get me tickets. He’s so two-faced.’ So I just replied, ‘You’re an arrogant f*cking prick, to be honest with you.’ And I pulled him at the show and I said, ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ He said, ‘Hey, hey.’
“I said, ‘What are you doing? 1) You couldn’t be more arrogant. 2) Why are you just not messaging me after I’ve messaged you to say, ‘Come on, Eddie, you sure you can’t help?’ Like, whatever, you put a tweet out? I said, ‘You’re like a little kid. You used to be a good kid, you did. Now, I don’t like this arrogance that I’m seeing from you. Don’t ever do that again.’ Then he’s like, ‘You said something about me in the media.’ I said, ‘No, I’m just answering questions. I don’t represent you. So if I get asked about Devin Haney, I’m going to tell you what I think about the situation. I’ve never said anything disrespectful, but you have.’
“I said, ‘Don’t ever disrespect me again.’”
Hearn and Haney have recent history, with Hearn serving as Haney’s promoter for his fight with Ryan Garcia this past April. Garcia defeated Haney by majority decision in a bout that was shrouded in controversy.
Prior to fight day, Garcia missed weight by three pounds, making him ineligible to win Haney’s WBC super lightweight title; on June 20, Garcia later tested positive for ostarine and the bout was overturned to a no-contest, restoring Haney’s undefeated record (Garcia was also fined $1.1 million and received a one-year suspension from competition).
Following the news of Garcia’s positive drug test, Hearn heavily criticized Garcia for his behavior while standing by Haney.
It’s unclear what kind of relationship Hearn and Haney will have egoing forward, but Hearn mentioned that an upcoming documentary on the Wembley Stadium show will be released sometime in the first half of 2025, and that he expects their confrontation to be featured for all to see.
“Anyway, you’ll be able to watch it all on Netflix very soon,” Hearn said.
Watch video of Hearn and Haney’s confrontation below.
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