Eddie Hearn is showing he can compartmentalize various parts of his brain when it comes to working with a certain business partner.
In October, Matchroom’s Hearn sued YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul for $100 million in a defamation case after Paul made claims suggesting Hearn was fixing fights.
Hearn, whose company spans nearly half a century, said he had no choice but to get litigious after Paul refused to retract his claims.
Interestingly, the lawsuit has not prevented Hearn and Paul from doing business together. Most recently, Amanda Serrano, whom Paul manages under his boxing promotional company MVP, fought in the main event of a Matchroom card at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York city. Serrano defeated Erika Cruz Hernandez on points to become the undisputed featherweight champion.
Now Serrano will go up against Hearn’s ace female client, lightweight champion Katie Taylor, in a rematch of their ballyhooed barnburner last year later this summer in Taylor’s homeland of Ireland.
In a recent interview, Hearn made it clear he has no issues continuing to do business with Paul, despite the ongoing legal bad blood.
“Everyone’s professional,” Hearn said during an interview on The MMA Hour With Ariel Helwani. “At the end of the day, and I have to respect them for this, we’re not letting our relationship get in the way of opportunities for the fighters. We’d be idiots if we did and we certainly wouldn’t be doing the right job for our clients. You can’t stop a fight from happening just because me and Jake Paul have fallen out.
“At the end of the day, Jake said some things that he shouldn’t have. He refused to apologize, and this is the way I chose to deal with it. Because the other option is to just go and knock him out, which is not the way he conducts business. We have a reputation in the sport that spans 40 years and I’m not prepared for some YouTuber or whatever it is to come and start questioning that integrity. He made the most bizarre comments. People will say, ‘oh, let it lie.’ No, I’m not prepared to let it lie because it’s something I take very seriously. So that’s that situation.
“The situation with representing our clients, that’s a good thing,” Hearn continued. “I have to respect them for that. …Jake will do his thing. I don’t mind the guy. I think he’s doing good things for boxing. I like what he’s doing, the way he’s gone about most of his business but for me this was something I wasn’t prepared to let lie. Whether you think I’m wrong is something that’s very important to me.”