Devastated Eddie Hearn breaks silence on Conor Benn signing for rival Dana White and says ‘I misjudged the character’

EDDIE HEARN has broken his silence after Conor Benn signed for rival Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing.

Benn turned professional with Hearn and has made millions under the Matchroom Boxing boss.

But Hearn has found himself in a war of words with White – who this year launched Zuffa Boxing to rival the old guard promoters.

And White – backed by the TKO Group that own the UFC and WWE as well as Saudi firm Sela – has drawn first blood by prising Benn away from Hearn.

A stunned Hearn told iFL TV: “It’s not often you get shocked and I blame myself. I blame myself because, I just I forgot it was boxing.

“I just felt that, the loyalty that we’ve shown would never ever put us in this position.

“And I just felt that, I never really needed to push Conor Benn to sign a new contract previously.

“And I probably could have got him to sign a new contract previously. But like I said, I blame myself. I made a mistake because I misjudged the character.”

Hearn claimed he was contacted by Benn’s lawyer over the negotiations – but was denied the chance to speak to the boxer himself.

He said: “I text him and said, ‘I think we should have a call. I think for everything I’ve done for you, I think I deserve a call.

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“And he said “no”. And I was like, ‘Man. F** * I can’t believe it.’

“I just don’t know what to say other than, I felt that everything that we gave him, the loyalty that we gave him, the support we gave him, would be enough to talk it through or just get close to a number.

“But it wasn’t really of interest, so very, very surprising, very, very painful but just another moment in life that you live and learn from.

“I don’t really know what to say, really.”

When Benn failed a drug test in 2022 for clomiphene – known to boost testosterone – his career and reputation looked in tatters.

But Hearn stuck by the son of a legend, who protested his innocence after being provisionally banned by UK Anti-Doping and the British Boxing Board of Control.

Benn fought back from depression and suicidal thoughts to take his career to America for two 150lb catchweight bouts while his doping saga dragged on.

But eventually, he was cleared to fight after his ban was lifted by UKAD, freeing him to fight Chris Eubank Jr twice on home soil, banking close to £20MILLION.

I took the loyalty for granted because of what I did and I shouldn’t have done that. And and I’ve made that mistake before in boxing but I just didn’t expect it from Conor Benn.

Eddie Hearn

Hearn has revealed he financially supported Benn during the doping scandal – which threatened to leave him penniless amid the legal fight.

The promoter said: “It feels a little bit of a wasted few years because I gave a lot. I gave a lot, you know how hard I fought.

“When no one believed him, no one backed him, I did. I believed him, and I backed him, and I never gave in.

“When he was done, I loaned him hundreds of thousands of pounds. But yeah, on we go.”

Benn – who lost to Eubank last April but won the November rematch – wants Hearn to still be in his team.

But Hearn said: “During that two year period it was pretty brutal. So at the moment it’s just digesting it.

“Yeah, it’s a little bit numb. But right now, there’s a lot I could say. There’s a lot I could say. But we’ll keep it classy.”

While Hearn could not get through to Benn at first – he let his feelings be known to the fighter’s American manager Keith Connolly.

‘This is gonna be a long war’

He said: “I had some very choice words with his manager Keith Connolly, you know, the old Keithy baby does it again. And Conor, I don’t know.

“Sometimes you live in that world and you just lose your head a little bit. You just kind of lose an understanding of reality and what’s right and wrong.

“And I just feel that the way that it was done was very, very wrong. But that’s just my opinion and he might say, ‘Yeah, but it was a lot of money.’

“But like I said, everyone’s different, aren’t they? Some people, loyalty really matters, other people, maybe not so.”

White is backed by Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshkih – planning to operate outside the traditional promoters and world titles.

They have debuted with three shows so far and recently unveiled their own Zuffa Boxing belt while planning to expand to the UK and Ireland.

Hearn believes his friction with White could have led to Benn being purposely pursued by the UFC chief.

He said: “Conor’s been used as a pawn in that respect and that’s just the business.

“I see from his response, I don’t think he feels like he’s done anything wrong, really. So that’s him as a person and like I say, each to their own.”

Hearn spent years rivalling Frank Warren until the two came together – with the help of Alalshkih ironically – and streaming service DAZN.

But White is his newest opponent outside of the ring – and the feud has only just started.

Hearn said: “This is gonna be a long war. But, like I said, I blame myself.

“I got the character wrong, I took the loyalty for granted because of what I did and I shouldn’t have done that.

“And and I’ve made that mistake before in boxing but I just didn’t expect it from Conor Benn.

“Like I said, maybe he’s not quite the person I thought he was, I don’t know. Maybe we’ll talk in the future, but what can I say?”

Benn, 29, was Hearn’s second biggest star next to only Anthony Joshua, 36.

But he insisted the two cannot be compared – inside and outside of the ring.

He said: “Joshua’s a different breed of class and loyalty, and Joshua’s one of a kind.

“Joshua is someone that even if I made the mistake of trusting that loyalty, it would never be a mistake with him.

“Because he’s cut from a different cloth. But there we go, that’s life.”