Controversial boxing promoter Don King has declared that Eddie Hearn gets too "emotionally involved" in fights after branding the 91-year-old a "dinosaur" in recent years.
King is one of the most recognisable personalities in the history of boxing, but doesn't stage shows as regularly as he used to after struggling to maintain relevance in the modern landscape of the sport. But his new signing of former two-weight world champion Adrian Broner has brought him back to the fore, with his latest event taking place in Miami last weekend.
Broner won his comeback fight in a lack-lustre display against Bill Hutchinson at the Casino Miami in front of a sparse crowd, landing a victory for the first time since 2021. And he will have a number of options going forward including Rolly Romero, Ryan Garcia and Hearn's charge Conor Benn, who is currently not licensed but is working towards a ring return.
"Certainly, I would work with Eddie Hearn today," King told Mirror Fighting after Broner's victory in Florida. "Eddie Hearn's a nice guy, he's still young and we have philosophical differences, he said me and Bob [Arum] are dinosaurs but guess what? The dinosaurs were here first.
"So in time when technology moves there's progress, you've got to get in tune with the people and use social media. All of it is accommodation, appreciation and love for the people, I'm a promoter of the people, by the people for the people and my magic lies in those people's ties."
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King is infamous in boxing circles for his ties with Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali among other iconic fighters. He made incredible fights like the Rumble in the Jungle between Ali and George Foreman, but many fighters left him amid legal battles and claims of having their money taken away.
He has returned to the public consciousness in recent years, and wants to work with Hearn if the appropriate fights can be made. "Eddie is upcoming, he has his desires and sometimes he gets emotionally mixed up," King quipped in another subtle jab. "But we've got to give Eddie a break, look at what he's coming behind.
"All of the great things that have been done, he can't recapture them and take away from them, they have been done, Eddie! Now you've got to make your own moves, make your own legacy and get to work for your own fighters - I love Eddie, Eddie you got any fighters I'll work with you! You can't talk that talk and not walk that walk."
