Dana White Calls Eddie Hearn Delusional Over the Fury-Joshua Fight
Dana White called Eddie Hearn delusional and said the Matchroom Boxing promoter is chasing a public-relations win he has not actually earned. White answered Thursday after missing the first Tyson Fury–Anthony Joshua press conference in London, and he insisted he is still both promoting and producing the December 11 show.
A reporter told White that his name drew a frosty reception from boxing fans when Turki Alalshikh mentioned him at Olympia Exhibition Centre. The same question put Hearn’s line in front of him: the promoter had said he needed to stay diplomatic, and humble in victory, because White had talked about a venue and a date that did not happen. White did not accept the premise.
“Was I lying? Was I wrong? Am I not the promoter? Am I not producing the entire f***ing event?” he said. “The answer is yes.”
The fight is scheduled for December 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff. White was not in London on September 30, and he was not introduced as a promoter at that press conference. Hearn has said the listed promoters are Sela, Matchroom, himself and Joshua, Gold Star, and Queensberry, and he has said White cannot be added unless Matchroom allows it. White’s answer was that the production role is already his, whether or not his name was read from the stage.
He then separated the argument from the fight itself. “And, and, and I think that’s, I think the difference between me and Eddie is, Eddie’s trying to win some kind of PR battle or, or whatever the fck,” White said. “Eddie likes to see himself on interviews. He likes to talk a lot. And, talking a lot will get you in a lot of f**ing trouble.”
White told the room to wait. “Like I said, judge me at the end of the year,” he said. “Let’s see how this whole thing looks in a couple of years. The writing is on the wall.” He then dismissed the victory Hearn claimed in London. “Whatever little f**ing, pardon me ladies, pssy game he thinks he won. He’s out of his mind, he’s incredibly delusional. He knows what’s going on.”
The next question was about Joshua, not the paperwork. The reporter said Joshua had stood with Hearn and would stay with him if Hearn pulled the plug. Joshua had told talkSPORT, “My loyalty is with Eddie. Whatever he wants to do, I’ll do it. If he wants to pull the plug, I’d be right there tugging that plug with him.” White said he had not spoken to the fighter. “No, no, I haven’t talked to AJ, I don’t expect, to be talking to AJ or, or any of that stuff,” he said. “Eddie is his guy, and he’s standing by Eddie, and I respect that.”
White also rejected the idea that he is trying to take Joshua from Matchroom. “And again, I said at the press conference the other day, you, you see me out there trying to sign Anthony Joshua or take him away, and you just asked if I talked to him?
” he said. “I haven’t talked to him. It’s obviously very clear that he is very, loyal to Eddie.” He added that he once said he hoped Joshua owned Matchroom stock, and that “they came out and said he does. So, all good.”
Hearn has said he will talk with Alalshikh over the next few weeks about whether there is any role left for White. White’s position on Thursday was that the role is already settled, and that the London reaction does not change who is producing the show. The fight is still dated for December 11 in Cardiff, with Joshua publicly tied to Hearn if that dispute is the thing that stops it.
