Boxing

Eddie Hearn Roasts Dana White's Promotion of Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford

Eddie Hearn didn't think highly of how Dana White promoted the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford card.
Grant Young|
IMAGO / AAP

While the actual September 13 fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford was enough to captivate audiences around the world, there's no doubt that some of the figures that were associated with the fight played a role in building hype and anticipation.

The most notable of these is UFC CEO Dana White, who was making his highly anticipated debut as a boxing promoter for this Canelo vs. Crawford fight. White has spent years talking about his desire to get into the boxing world, and TKO's partnership with Turki Alalshikh to create Zuffa Boxing created a pathway for him to do so.

That being said, White wasn't necessarily doing a ton to promote this fight other than being present and making occasional social media posts. He also spoke at the dais during a pre-fight press conference, but his verbal spat with a reporter who had asked him about amending the Muhammad Ali Act stole headlines and ultimately took attention from the two pound-for-pound greats that were set to square off.

Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship introduces Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump
Jasper Colt / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Eddie Hearn Makes Unfavorable Assessment of Dana White's Boxing Promotional Abilities

White's entrance in the boxing world makes him a direct competitor with other promoters, such as Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing. And Hearn got brutally honest about White's promotional prowess during an October 8 appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.

"In my opinion, I'm gonna spank [White] in boxing. In my opinion, he can't lace my boots in boxing," Hearn said. "But maybe I'm deluded! And maybe I'm so arrogant and egotistical that I'm gonna get it wrong. But that's what I truly believe."

Hearn later added, "When I see him at the press conference... When he's talking about the undercard of Crawford against Canelo, and he's reading off a bit of paper, it's just not the same [as White promoting the UFC]. And that's like me in boxing."

While Hearn and White have typically been complimentary of each other in the past, there's clearly a rivalry bubbling between them ever since White entered the boxing space. Both have made several interesting comments about the other, and it's beginning to feel like a matter of time before the passive-aggressive criticism turns into full-blown verbal warfare.

However, given how important both of these guys are to the sport (albeit White is still new to it), them being at odds with each other would probably be a net positive, given how much interest it will bring to the sweet science.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.