DAZN News caught up with Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn at the "Bad Blood" press conference in Newcastle, England, on Tuesday to discuss the fight between Robbie Davies Jr. and Lewis Ritson, along with other upcoming bouts.
DAZN News: Robbie Davies Jr. vs. Lewis Ritson in "Bad Blood." Perfect name for this matchup, right?
Eddie Hearn: Great couple of fights — Robbie Davies Jr. vs. Lewis Ritson, Ted Cheeseman vs. Scott Fitzgerald. There’s obviously a lot more to be added as well, but we'll talk about the main event. Last time we came here to Newcastle, Lewis Ritson boxed Francesco Patera and we had 9,000 here. No one knew who Patera was. This time, Ritson is fighting a Scouser where there has been a great buildup, and it’s a brilliant domestic fight.
It’s a pure 50-50 eliminator for the world title, and it’s a massive opportunity for both men. Ritson has moved up after demolishing everyone domestically, losing for the European title. I think I probably wanted him to move up before that, but now he is at 140 pounds and he’s up against a big 140-pounder in the form of Davies Jr. Robbie won the British [title], won the European [title], which Lewis couldn’t do. He’s coming to Ritson’s backyard because he believes he can win, and he wants to move on and fight all those big names at 140.
DN: You’re fresh back from Mexico. Are you happy with how things went out there?
EH: Fantastic. We had 12,000 people there, the atmosphere was incredible. Juan Estrada was brilliant. It looks like he’ll fight Kal Yafai next in a unification fight, probably in the U.S. Liam Smith boxed really well, Filip Hrgovic was great fun, Jono Carroll had a good win, Shakhram Giyasov was brilliant ... it was just a great event.
DN: You announced a partnership with Gennadiy Golovkin and GGG Promotions the other day. How did that deal come about?
EH: It was an honor really because when someone like that puts their trust in you to do the job, he could have signed with any other promoter in the world, and he put his belief in us. That sort of motivates me a lot and makes me want to work even harder to deliver for him. So, with Matchroom and GGG Promotions working on the events, working on the fights, but also mapping out his career, I feel like he’s in a golden age in his career where he just has big fights for another couple of years, and I’m really excited to be involved in all those big fights.
I think having your own promotional company as a fighter sounds great until you actually do it and you realize how much of a ball-ache it really is. So GGG Promotions still exists, it’s still a major company for him, but he believes that teaming up with us will give him more substance, make it more dynamic. I’d like to think that I’m quite powerful in the world of boxing, and I think that if you have that behind you, you’re in a good spot, especially in a world full of politics. We won’t let him down.
DN: So, the Canelo vs. Golovkin trilogy fight should be easy to arrange then?
EH: I think so, but when you have a guy like Canelo who’s the A side, it’s down to them. If a guy won’t fight you, then there isn’t a lot you can do about it. You can put the pressure on DAZN, you can put the pressure on the media, you can put the pressure on the fans, but ultimately if Canelo doesn’t want the third fight, he isn’t going to fight him.
But he should be fighting him. I know he wants to fight Sergey Kovalev, Demetrius Andrade, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and all these guys, so we’ll have to see. But what this move was all about was saying 'OK, you’re doing your own thing, I’m going to do my thing.' Golovkin signed with us to move forward with GGG Promotions and box Sergiy Derevyanchenko for the title and then defend it and be in big fights in 2020.
DN: Billy Joe Saunders has also recently signed with Matchroom. When can we expect to see him in the ring?
EH: Billy Joe will be boxing at the beginning of November, defending his world title, and we are currently working on an opponent. Then, I want him to fight Callum Smith because I think that is a great fight. It could be done at Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium, but he has the ability to box at 168 or 160.
He’s got Callum Smith, Daniel Jacobs and Chris Eubank Jr., but he’s also got Canelo, Golovkin and Andrade. He’s got loads of options, but obviously having the two super middleweight world champions, it would make sense to put them together in front of 90,000 at Anfield.
DN: Andy Ruiz Jr. has officially announced that he will be fighting Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia. Was it difficult in getting him to agree?
EH: The contract was solid and we were ready to enforce that, but there were a few things that were required commercially above that contract which we tied in. He was compensated for extra, which made him happy. But it was more about the place, security, the commission, drug-testing, all this stuff and once that was satisfied, it was a go. And now, we’ve just got a massive fight.
This fight is going to go down in history. People may think I’m crazy, but this fight will be like the "Thriller in Malila" and the "Rumble in the Jungle." One of those obscure places where the whole world will be watching and these guys are battling it out on the back of sand dunes in Saudi Arabia. This is massive for the sport.