Alastair Campbell interviews Eddie Hearn | British GQ

McGregor Mayweather that was one of the greatest hit and runs you know in terms of a cash grab because it was oh I mean not seriously it was genius by it was disgusting for the sport boxing right so here we are in the nice part of a six pound me yeah you've got your personalized number play roller outside correct with your smart clothes and you SmartWatch so first question why sees how much do you like money I think for a silver spoon kid I'm a bit of a hustler for a pound note but were very competitive family and the money is a number so I've always been instilled from as they we discussed earlier my accountant father child accounts and it tells me the youngest-ever not sure if that's true or not but Eli yes the trees a promoter oh he's almost okay and we've always been motivated by money doesn't matter if the target is ten or twenty or hundred thousand that's what we've got a beat so we're very competitive in that respect so whether it's department on department or pay-per-view numbers on a show or how many tickets we can sell it's not really about the money that can be generated but more about actually having a target and winning but would you feel like there's a helipad out and would you feel if you didn't have a roller you were a bit of a failure not really no and I've not really been obsessed with materialistic things but I'm sort of at a stage in my life now where you know approaching forty very very soon there I've done all right you know grafted hard and to buy the odd nice bit of thing good good and you said it so you bumblers Silver Spoons you dad was wealthy when you born and he sent you to a private school so how come you've not you've still got the same accent disease got well because he's responsible for that and I had my early years my life for it following him around the world because it was only time I could spend time with him and he's always taking the piss out of me for being a silver spoon kid but he say oh he's the only way I mean he's the only one and he will always call me a jury did yeah but you know I've got a bit more respect for the old man than Tyson Fury but he's instilled to working-class mentality in me always went out to work you know I was working in double-glazing sales when I was 16 after school on the phones selling working for him he was petrified of me being that horrible spoke it with with no working class mentality that didn't want to work that didn't want to graft and my work ethic is the same as him as his he's off accounts were stay in Dagenham luckily for me because and you know I'm not but the ethic that he's instilled in me means that as he as he walks out the door I was it's just Gary bending he's got a Bentley that's why he's got the on with me you know so you know I think he was always petrified that I would be that kid and I would be the same yeah you know I would hate for Google kids I've got two daughters so I haven't had to you know worry about having a sports job that always feel like if I had a son I treat him very differently to how am i treating my daughters because I want them to have the very best and I think growing up he probably wanted me to have the best as well what's this - about you had a fight with you and you were 16 yeah so yeah yeah well with gloves small gloves but basically I grew up in the gyms when my dad was in boxing yeah so I went to my first show Frank Bruno against Joe Buck now that was his first picture White Hart Lane I was there I was eight and I grew up with Frank Bruno Nazim Hamid Chris Eubank jr. crispy bacon senior and living in the gyms with them because I would finish school okay to Romford just sit in the gym wait for him to finish work go to all the shows and always felt that I could fire a bit you know because I've watched these guys and I do a bit on the pads myself and I said to my dad you know I think I could he said son you're a silver spoon kid he said you can't find he said you haven't got any of these kids to take your head off so I went to Billy Ricky boxing club and I had three fights amateur fights and it was only then when I was getting introduced in the ring and on the first my first ever fire I said from Billericay Eddie Hills I was gutted they got my name wrong you know I thought my time my time in the spotlight and then the next fight they did it again I went to him and he told me I couldn't let him know that you're my son you get a pasting so but he always said to me he said when you get to 18 yeah I'm gonna take you into the ring and I'm gonna teach you about life is he a fighter not really he did a bit when he was younger but and he says because you got you know your sterling silver spoon kid you gotta be you got out of that respect and you got to take a pasting that's only fair and people struggled to get their head round his story you know but for me it seemed very normal anyway I got to 16 and I was about six foot two and 13 14 stone and was boxing a little bit the time he said like I think now's the time we won't wait to you're 18 and we went to the gym in Romford and we put just put these bad gloves on and we did three three-minute rounds and he came out like a lunatic I just remember you know keeping my guard up and just looking at his face you know yeah ya know it was again people call me did he ever hit you outside that nah no I mean he'd give me give me a cookie I mean you know he was big on discipline at a bad temper back in the day because he was working in boxing it's the worst business in the world to working I don't know you know from your world you might say I might hang on it but it's it's a very very you got a temper ya know he's he hasn't got a temper anymore because he's the best person in the world to go to with a problem right because he's come through the peaks and troughs of a company that's had its ups and downs he's worked in the boxing world every world so he's been through that and you see him as your boss probably I mean I respect him in that way as a father and a boss and probably the best person like I said you could go to of a problem no if I'm if I'm he doesn't like to get involved in the boxing unless I ask him but he did used to do the boss yeah yeah but he wanted out so was the division of labor but now you do boxing I do boxing he's does darts he does snooker now we've got different multi-sport department gymnastics golf table tennis Paul but Heath his main focus he's the darts and the snooker but he sits at the top and delegates so as you would especially in boxing they'll they'll be certain situations where I think I find he'll men are there any sports that you two wouldn't get involved in he always says no passion no point so he gets involved in sports especially my choice no but he does he likes gymnastics not not taking part but he loves to watch it he thinks he's a great sport same with table tennis you know saying with Tempe and bowling me not so same with fishing the mad fisherman for me not so it's very difficult once you've been involved with boxing to to find any other sport that makes you feel like what sports would he would both of you just not touch a sports is a good example we're talking on these sports we're quite close to do that it's a new world even for me you know I'm in boxing I'm seen as the innovator innovator yeah in eSports this is what Bob if I'm and I'll get in eSports and it fascinates me that we live in a world where seventeen or eighteen thousand people will buy tickets to watch two people playing a computer but you can't ignore it because it's that that new well you you you are gonna get we're looking at it yeah we're looking at it we cut again you can't ignore it if you want to evolve as a business we can't be this old-fashioned company that do a bit of snooker and pull you know I mean we've changed the face of boxing we've changed the face of many sports darts is another good exhaust is probably the biggest system that's a huge I mean when you talk about what we've done for boxing boxing has always been a big sport boxing is a great sport darts is probably the one where if you'd have said 10 years ago that darts would be the second-highest spawn sky would be selling 10,000 tickets a week in arenas yeah exactly and I think it's just that workingman's it's not even the working man sport it's the working man talent within the sport that walk out with that face and the public just say he's just an ordinary bloke used to work on a building site and we're live in a world now especially with Premier League football or I think there's a bit of resentment from fans yeah where they say you know he's on yeah the other thing you've done with boxing and darts in particular the fans have become very much part of the spectacle yeah without their little brother yeah because without that should you be paying them we know you're taking their money you should be paying that were they're having a great night and they're leaving with a smile on their face but you're right in the sense that they are part of the show I mean the darts in particular if you have seen the dog yes yeah it would not be the same but you look in the background of those pictures and you look at people dressed up as funky chickens Smurfs and anything else and they're just having a great time yeah and people are envious you know with the box in just launched our American project they're saying to me how do you do it in the UK like because the atmosphere is just not the same in American America no they say how do you get the fans we play Sweet Caroline before the main event it's not rocket science but at Wembley there's 80,000 people singing on this on their seats smiling having a great time no I just think it's a different kind of fan culture I think the the British have a much stronger passion for their own in some respects and America is such a vast country so you could get a guy from I don't know Atlanta if you're fighting him in LA how much they really care about that guy doesn't matter in Britain if he's from Liverpool or is from London he's British he's one of us he's fine for a while how big was Anthony Joshua being for the you know in my daughter's I've got my son's a really interesting box of my daughter loads at all but even she was getting the Josh it's the first time in boxing that so many different genres have been here I think it's a bit of both I think it's a bit of both I think we've made boxing sexy again it's a night and that I just think with with my great nights we've given people entertainment whether it's music in the venues the hype that's created in the build-up to the event to get excitement people are excited to go you know whether that's me from a promotional angle in that the old-school promoters whether it's Frank Morris my old man they are 70 or approaching and maybe the British public just don't want to listen to them anymore I probably get bored listening to me but especially after he went on the BBC there was that I would leave it at darkness sir said you don't yeah it was great yeah yeah but there'll always be and part of him loves to see us take control of the boxing market yeah because he had his Wars yeah and now he can sit back and say gone son no and he'll say to me hey get us you know a show last said he they're out to America then we're over to Asia keep going son keep going because he knows that we win it and you know he says never weaken a border this new cool Snuka seems to me he's a very passionate about snow is he yeah and it we saw Higgins and yeah no and that's a problem and I think when you go back to AJ he's the probably one of the first guys in boxing that you can you know pick my daughter up from school kids are running up to me saying I watched Anthony Joshua last night when did a seven or eight year old what's Joshua a fighter on pay-per-view or didn't even the parents allow their kids to stay up and watch Joshua the parents knows was him yeah but the parents don't mind and see Joshua being their kids role model that's that's the difference right so cuz he's the kind of good guy yeah he's a good guy and it's Tyson Fury a bad guy and the kind of caricature yeah I suppose so you know in in the like yeah in the drama of boxing he's a bad guy he's actually not a bad guy but he chooses to sell himself in a way where he will be little bit outrageous he will say some controversial stuff everyone's different you ever get Joshua playing up to the camera no trust or not cut he can't feel anything worse if you put it on him you'll see the old Anthony Joshua come out which is the one that grew up on a counter estate they had to find his way that had to come through some hard times that was in gangs and if you're ever going to find someone that could motivate young kids inner-city kids and see Joshua g-man I mean it sounds like the way that I was when I was a journalist when we loads of stories about John Conte and I wonder with these days whether there are so many more roots out for particularly black kids it's kind of tough areas that maybe was always this thing in working-class areas in the north and Scott my boxing was the bear town of so many more roots and as he did you find actually the the the pool of talent is getting narrower or not no I don't I think actually the pool of talent is widening because people are looking at role models like Joshua just like with golf when the explosion of Tiger Woods happened there were kids on the range saying I want to be the new Tiger Woods now there are kids in boxing club saying I want to be the next anti Joshua boxing can deliver summary things for the youth culture not just wanting to become a professional boxer but discipline respect the regimental lifestyle all the things that Anthony Joshua looked for to change his life when Joshua went to the gym he didn't go to the gym and say I want to be the next heavyweight world champion he said I wanna have a go at that I want something to sort of focus on and it taught him respect he taught him discipline and it taught it out ultimately turned that it was very good and and he found boxing as a way to change his life but what we say to kids is you don't have to go to the local boxing club to become a professional boxer but what it will do is teach you those things and from a government perspective and a council process but local council perspective they don't see their if but if they took the time to speak to kids in boxing and see Joshua you know these kind of fighters that and see what boxing did to change their life it's very powerful do you do you like the last culture of boxing oh you know when you watch the dark well I think I'm the target audience so that's why I think it's not easy for me but I can understand the audience I would go to the darts I would go to the boxing that we're promoting right and you know people like if you don't drink you enjoy as much and probably not to be brutally honest I mean people you know that was one of the questions that I got asked in America is no how are these guys having such a great time they are Evan a drink but there's no point papering over it it's part of their enjoyment people some people live a boring some people live a depressing life they like to go out and enjoy themselves and have fun if that means going to the boxing have a few pints dressing up having a dark dance at the darts and put a smile on their face then we're all winning but you know it's like the darts particularly is like one of those nights that whatever is happening in your life go to the darts have a great craic with your mates have a few beers and a great knife do you think that do you not have a worry that I do the sport particularly television oh yeah I don't think boxing I mean boxing and darts you know there is a gambling culture of fans and there is for all sports particularly football and you know we can't hide away from the fact that the majority of sponsors in those particular sports are gambling companies so you know obviously they see that market and those that fanbase as ideal for them I think a drinking culture I don't think it's the sports I think there is a drinking culture in the country to be honest with you and I think that will change you know I see yeah I do and you know we talked about eSports and stuff like that and you know when I went to Saudi Arabia at the weekend there was a fire out there I know it's a bit rented right well there was the World Boxing Super Series event out there and obviously there's no alcohol out in Saudi Arabia there's about 8,000 people there and it was a nice feel to it was it you know yeah it was everything I mean it wasn't that the the energy and the atmosphere no not at all but it was pleasant you know not obviously I could see one event people having a drink here and the other one people aren't having a drink here you don't quite get the same energy because people are on the edge of their seats but you know I think that that there is a drinking culture in the UK but I also think there's a massive I see a massive u-turn coming from the youth of healthy living that mentality I think less people are smoking I think it's become an incredibly unfashionable one kids now because smoking smoking out of sport I think I think I think the key there was to make it unsociable I'm smoking so you want to go out you won't have a cigarette go go in a corner in that little box and go and stand there all right now I think people are particularly looking at the physical side of spall wanting to be fitter you know they're eating better I think they were that question I mean the rise of you know whether it's supplement companies or healthy eating companies you only got a look at Instagram to see the success of that I think I think the world is changing and I think that people are trying to be more healthy and I think we see that in boxing company your competitor levels and participation levels at grassroots is growing okay what's the belief stuff hmm we're talking I mean so you basically did a tweet saying this sports on his knees basically yeah I mean someone came on to me so it all started on social media someone tweet means it why don't you get involved Rugby League and I said I turned it on the other night on Sky there was no one in the stadium and I knew I've done my research on rugby league I said it's on its knees well would you get involved next thing Ralph Rim has called me from the chief executive of the rugby league we've had a meeting very nice chap next thing we're at the Rugby League final which was probably 50,000 40,000 you know that know at Wembley I'm their flagship event and yeah graceful graceful and actually they've done the some of the kind of modern stuff really well they do they do the ref but but the same thing we talked about earlier that snooker yeah tell me the Stars in rugby league I follow school I couldn't tell you one rugby league player no and I said to the rugby league guys over here Martin a fire you know Farrell and Jamie peacock Ellery Hanley they're the ones I remember just like you say with snooker Oh Alex Higgins Steve Davis Jimmy one so if there's no role models if there's no ambassadors how will grassroots participation grow how will people tune into you have to tune into what you start you know even with a Ryder Cup you know you you really want to see woods don't you you know you want to see our woods is game in the snooker you want to watch Ronnie all right in boxing you want to watch Joshua so you need the star standout players but also with the wage cap I'm gonna go too deep but with the wage cap you're not giving clubs a chance to achieve so great does that mean they can't go to Australia and get the top players yeah well it means our players are going to Australia there's a wage cap in the super league where everybody's got the Sun you know there's nobody up there no there's always the clubs over but but more money right so these players ago more I can only earn so much you know what we're saying is you know you need to create remember back in the day send Helens and weekend they were the standouts weren't they now it's a much more of an even playing field fans may say no we like that because butts like Formula One's you know I mean so I think that a lot of things have got to change but the problem is you've got the Rugby League and then you've got Super League clubs and they're just not on the same page right and that's a problem okay what about big admirer of the brand not a fan of the actual sport I would I think McGregor main thing I think McGregor Mayweather was one of the greatest hit-and-runs you know in terms of a cash grab because it was I mean not seriously it was genius but it was disgusting for the sport boxing because anyone in the sport boxing knew what it was knew that Floyd Mayweather held him up for wherever he held him up for a or nine rounds well you think you could have put him down round one I mean big like it's it's like it's like Mayweather going into a cage with McGregor he would get absolutely he in their life why McGregor yes like wouldn't even I mean unless each Indian as soon as they went on the ground yeah so but you know I watched part of it you know as a boxing fanatic and a hardcore fan which is what I am someone has followed the sport for thirty years yeah you know I had one eye on into thinking I was there and I was thinking I can't believe what I'm watching it and then the other one got looking around at the media tools the pay-per-view numbers guys he's absolutely [ __ ] genius yeah and McGregor is absolutely brilliant yeah I mean he doesn't produce when you talk about characters in sport love him or hate him he's a genius and complete genius he knows what he's doing he says all the right things he can turn it on like that you know you might see him then always I'm bang he's at a press conference and you know him you know but but you see you do you think you saying that I mean there's an element of Kannan that then yeah I think it was a con job I think was a con job he was never gonna win you know and I think everybody involved knew that but everybody involved knew that it was gonna break pay-per-view records so sometimes a thought why if it wasn't gonna be a contest because it was this there was the fascination of the bizarre it was it was an MMA legend against pound for pound boxing style yeah in an event that would captivate the casuals but but that meant that Mayweather was going for seven late rounds it's just cruising base not bothered not not looking good maybe he knew he knew exactly what he was doing in that fight because he's a genius as well you had two geniuses in a ring yeah who would have shook their head beyond closed doors after that fire and gone great works yeah who's like it was that right it was it was it was the game grace you know crashing grab of all time and to think back in the days we talk about hourly and things like that then one day there would be a pound for pound number one fighter in the world fight his circus stuff but in the sport of boxing in all sports actually but particularly boxing circus selves but you have to find the line between the circus and what's going to be good and bad for the sport Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather have zero interest in a good of the sport Mayweather as well yeah at this stage in his career it he's done in his board boxing he respects the sport of boxing but he doesn't he's not looking at what that event will do for boxing because his argument would do would say look how many fans no fans that has brought the sport and there is that argument because you can be guaranteed that MMA fans watch that fire that stayed with the sport right and vice versa yeah boxing fans will watch Conover would you say it wasn't boxing it was boxing because they're in a four-cornered ring right but it wasn't you know I mean it was it was a mismatch he was a fast but it was a great piece of business yeah but your overall feeling sitting there was what it sent a bit of a ship of them Queens he's been out to me yeah but again you couldn't help admire it you know I watched the media tours people turning up at Wembley in in Canada in in the Barclays Center fifteen sixteen thousand turning up to press conferences yeah here's a really weird question for you and this may sound very odd but again I was thinking of what's Trump on tell you the night I thought as Trump made trash-talking harder for to get impact do you think well she does it yeah I mean trash-talking is taken off there's even TV shows in America for trash-talking I can't remember the name of it but it's where two people stand up and basically they're trash talk each other and it's become a massive show in America Jeanne's but i think that people like that side of the sport people like those press conferences as a promoter you know when you go to a press conference and you say right you know we're here to discuss this fight Joe Bloggs it's a big fight for you on Saturday night yeah I've had a great camp I'm ready okay you know obviously he said in an interview the other day he's gonna knock you out unquestionably well it can say that but we'll see on the night I'm sitting there thinking come on I ain't from your boat and then next press conference you got Dereck Chisora picking up a table throwing it at me and Dillion Wyatt you know part mystery fearing for my life but of course as a promoter you do sort of dry bone from the press conference go call asking a cell because that's what we do where we're promoters with salesmen but again he's getting their line right when the British Boxing Board of Control phone up and say what are you doing how does that happen well in fi I mean we act we had a meeting with the board the day of the weigh-in to save the fight you know they wanted to potentially pull the plug on it they've got a tough job because they have to understand their hype cells yeah but they're the ones that are ultimately responsible for the code of the sport yeah so we we do care about sport and we have to tread that line as well but also we know we have to sell pay-per-view numbers we have to deliver bums on seats we've got delivered TV ratings sponsors and and they want that hype they want that build-up yeah and when we do a fight who's the best who's the best in this apart from ollie he's only the best ever at heart without doubt right who's the second-best after him trash-talker oh we said that's our highly hype men don't know I mean you know back in that era you had that great era of well welterweights to middleweights of Leonard and Hagler and Juran was great you know and now you've got you've got that mixed Deion's a wild was very good Tyson Fury is a very good trash talker and hype man something forgot about AJ he sort of looks at that and cringes and says like again if you if you step to him or you he puts his nut someone puts his nuts on him it could go off there and then but he's not gonna if he does end up fighting Tyson Fury and he's nose-to-nose I mean the trial Furies giving it to him but the difference is AJ don't mess about you know and my fear then would be you would get a full-blown brawl press conferences and that's not what he wants for the spool Joshua you know he feels the responsibility on his shoulder and we were talking about this billy-joe incident Billy Joe Saunders with this I never saw this clearly and Joshua was like you know that's the sort of thing you do when you 14 you can't be doing that as world champion hmm he feels the responsibility to be that guy and I'm sure there's times he sat in a press conference and looked at a fire or anything I'll rip your head off but he also knows that there's kids watching that he's that guy that carries the sport on his shoulders in this country my son Callum was a big boxing phony he says the only question you got ask him is why is AJ bottling Waldron well he's definitely not bothered sighs I'm theory but it's it's a game in negotiation you know they're the two biggest stars in the division while Joshua and wild I hear Fury's theories great I mean he's not on the number three yeah he will I think but you know he's he's he beat Klitschko so he deserves a lot of credit he's awfully boring to watch but a great course is so defensive yes and he's ungainly and he don't really want to fire he's an on puncher but Wilder against Joshua is the biggest fire in the sport so the problem is is in terms of commercial draws Joshua is up here and Wilder is down here so when you're negotiating a deal because Walder is on about three million dollars of fire that's his average purse he sells five or six thousand ticket oh I certify whereas just okay I mean Emily's on ten times the money of Wilder so you have to get the deal right so but why can't you just as Frank Warren said because that's the kind of thing that someone would say who's got the B side now what can you just give him a 50-50 yeah this is that work like that you know and it's not the promoters will always get a stick yeah you know but ultimately we've got a job to do to represent our client in any position a footballer you know he wants to go to man united a man you listen okay now they turn around and they say listen I know you can get 500 grand a week for Avensis but we'll give you a hundred grand for pay for Man United come on he's men United yeah yeah just do it cuz the fans want it yeah you think that was gonna say I'm gonna go okay sweet it doesn't work like that so but Joshua knows that to be the undisputed champion he must fight Wilder and vice versa the issue is with Joshua is he's at 22 fights his resume at 22 fights has not been seen in the division before but the fans are very impatient that's their job to be impatient just like in football just like in boxing they want that fight now and we must deliver it next year so what did understand from the argument between Frank Warren and you down so it of Walden Fury gonna fight supposedly yeah they're gonna fight not confirmed yet it is but Fury's got like a fifty fifty percent pullout ratio on Road fight so if they get in the ring fury because he's the Challenger we'll have a rematch clause if he wins we've Wilder so if he wins you'd have to fight him again right we saw scuppers us a little bit if Wilder wins we're free to fire him and a prize so we're saying so we're negotiating now with whould up so you want Wilder to win yeah I mean as a Brit I'd like to see fury win but it doesn't help us right get that undisputed fire so in an ideal world for Joshua's career Fury a world would win and we find April for the undisputed championship and if not if well to be fury it's a rematch we left away another time so it could be the end of next year but again Joshua wants it you know people got understand about fighters you know they're not scared to fight fighters but the deals got to be right and that's our job you know we and how big would Joshua Wilder be in terms of money absolutely huge I mean know there could be anything's gonna get bigger and bigger and bigger the old-school promoter my old man would say that fight is gonna get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger but the new so yeah but the new school is yeah but let's make it now you know the fans want Joshua could win it he could be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world look at my weather pacquiao thank you too boxed for 30 or 40 million dollars each yeah they ended up getting John are 50 million and 180 million for that fine but we can't wait too long yeah because the fans will lose patience and they're the people paying what did you get for the last five boats undisclosed but I mean you know tens of millions so it's he's he's a he's a freak in everyone he's a commercial for it you know he's the first fighter that you are seeing on you know in across the stores he walk down Fifth Avenue you know he's got big Under Armour billboards he's in lucozade campaigns as well he has a commercial team that he's built actually very very very bright guy but unbelievably commercially savvy a dream to work he looks a million dollars as a fighter he's so exciting you know he speaks so well he's intelligent he's disciplined he's got the perfect story you know kid in trouble yeah look like he was going down the wrong way found boxing saved his life became World Heavyweight Champion and you know we're very lucky to have him and what about wild we said about you you're just another white man milking the black diamond was that bad I think you know he just felt that we were milking and seen Joshua keeping him away oh I see Deontay Wilder so kid loads of fights against these bugs yeah yes as it as he would say and I sort said well you need me to do some milking of you because you're making 3 million dollars of fire you're the world heavyweight champion and in America no one's heard of you I mean he's a character he's a very good fighter he's a dangerous fighting citing speaks well looks the part he should be an absolute superstar across America why do you know because the Angora promoter you know he's got three different managers who don't want to be promoters you need the mouthpiece it's Mayweather the only kind of spray self tire I mean world as a self-promoter but in America is Mayweather the only kind of household much yeah Pacquiao obviously because they had that rivalry people like De La Hoya you know riddick bowe maybe event the Hollifield these kind of guys as well but you need the Don King had many many many bad points but I'll tell you what he was a great promoter if he had a show in town you knew it was intended yeah because he was a loudmouth we would go around the whole time town sometimes we were megaphone just screaming a chair and from the rooftops and you know you need someone working for you 24/7 if it's not coming out of the mouth now it's across the digital space it's across social media it's the whole machine driving the fighter and the brand you mentioned Tyson Fury has got quite a high pullout rate and then of course he's got a lot of mental health struggles do you think boxing takes mental health seriously enough I think it's starting to I think a lot of sports are starting to realize that when a an athlete leaves there is a immense void in their life and if you think about the hires that boxing can give you versus other sports I mean you're training for 12 weeks you're walking out through a tunnel with a rowdy crowd it could be 80,000 at Wembley so ever fired in a ring with another man I mean that's not normal so when you lose that when that goes out your life did the career give you the satisfaction it gives you the peace when you leave and a lot of times the answer is none now a lot of fighters will lead to spool without the financial requirements they hoped it would give them or without the achievements they hoped it would give them and we see a lot of them struggle and I think the sport is really starting to come to terms now with that side and what about the the you know the physical mental is either sort of the constant yeah I mean I think I think that's another brand think the sport is safer than ever there's always the argument about boxing you know and it's it's not normal yeah we can't sit here and say this is a spool and you know there's all they're always the arguments there's more injuries there's more fatalities in downhill ski or in rugby than there is in boxing but the aim of boxing is to knock out your opponent yeah and that's where it's difficult sometimes to have that debate with someone who's against this ball but when you see what I'm to him yet for example and there's plenty of them the whole punch-drunk thing do you think that's in a better place than it was it is I think that we all have a duty so you've done a minute ago just said that you know when when you hear Joshua land a punch it's like bone-on-bone is brutal it's a brutal sport and you can't you know you can't deny it you can't paper over it it is a brutal brutal sport and we have a responsibility promoters and managers trainers to act in the best interest of Fighters to not not protect them because everyone wants to achieve greatness but particularly when a fighter is at the end of their career to make sure they do need to spool and I know it sounds really cheesy but you know I look at people like Tony belly and it gives me so much satisfaction to know that this man has achieved everything as a kid he ever dreamed of when he first laced up a glove he has more money than he ever dreamed of having and after one more fight he will leave the spool the happiest man alive that actually the most oh no of course not yeah and that goes across many men and the most boxes when they leave the sport can I just have to get on with their own lives there's no say oh we're all we're working there with the British Boxing Board of Control with other charities as well to try and provide some kind of support for fighters who leave the sport it's very difficult to provide financial support for every fighter that leaves the sport who didn't achieve what he wanted to but I do feel like and I think mental health . you know the awareness of mental health is changing that used to just be oh he's depressed you know and listen I'm probably guilty of that mentality 5 10 years ago he's got depression because my dad would would have that leave off and he got depression you roll his sleeves up and you just work a bit harder that's what my old man was saying but now actually you know people are understanding it a lot more now people are speaking out about it a lot more which is going to help everybody because it's not unusual now for someone's to step out and say I'm struggling yeah and that's the only way you're gonna change it yeah okay fury side of you daddy's boy bitter little sport punk yeah it's probably fair enough it was that that was that was me talking about the Joshua fire are you things boring usually I said he's the most unentertaining fighter that's right a bit harsh probably the most unentertaining heavyweight world champion right in the history of the sport old guard along with that right he's awful to watch my he's hilarious he's a great character I admire him for his victory over Klitschko yeah but to watch he's awful to watch so that was his comments on that but now tell me why did the fans boo you is he quitting cause of the money and yeah it could be a combination of but that particular like me why not though I don't know I mean he said it's a people always tell me it Spencer mine and I'm the pence more bitter but I've grown up every time my dad gets on the stage at the darts at the end of their lives no no boo I'll do that yeah hey they're booing straight away and I've always thought why'd I do that but he's always told me maybe because he was getting booed when they're booing you that's a great sign all right he said you'd only give it you don't be getting cheered you don't want to be getting cheered so I guess it's like it started off as I'm the guy who sells on the tickets I'm the guide of charges in the pay-per-view I'm the guy that probably has the perception that I'm taking the easier fights for my fighters rather than the tougher fights but you've given them what they want you are giving them that little bit of bitter loudmouth you know bitter check their leg you know I went through yourself I would is that 100% yeah but I say you know in other interviews I would think that I was a bit of a knob you know if I wasn't me and I was watching myself on a TV or press conferences old thing look at this kid brother do you yeah so why did you do that well just be myself and I love what I do but I don't you know the booing I don't get booed and go home at night my mum's really upset see why they boo yourself do they not know how hard you work so yeah mom don't worry about it it's just this thing I said Prince of mine but I don't I'll never get booed and so I leave and go I wish I got cheered do you like what this did you care about what they think yeah because I want them and again I know it sounds cheesy but the great when I put on a great show yeah I'm so happy because I know you know I might go on social media just have a little look a bit listen great show what you're doing for boxing oh I don't care about the boolean but I like acknowledgment from what we're doing for this sport so when people say to me I've just got to say I know a lot of people for all the booze a lot of people stop me in the street and say hey I can't just say what you've done for the sport is unbelievable and as I thank your timer and I go prick you know but but but that that means a lot to me well the take the pretty gnarly the bit where someone you can actually when I'm done and it might be three years it might be 30 years in boxing yeah but my legacy can only be making an impact on a sport right and actually probably deep down trying to outperform my old man that's probably what that's revenge for the 16 year old yeah yeah yeah but that's how I could be measured and tell me about this streaming thing in America I mean how big is that massive I mean we signed a billion dollar deal with the son who is accompanied by a Zed Hayes it in yeah we just company the Nellis barely like that but it's company owned by a guy called Len blender of ethnic whose access industries were second richest man in the UK they owned Warner Music they own Spotify I mean they're you know the serious players they created a sport platform called design streaming platform app service the Netflix of sport basically and they launched in Japan Italy Germany just general sports I mean there they in Italy they only serie rights you know Ronaldo's their glam program basa der and they came to us and they said we're launching in America and Major League Baseball and they came to you yep and basketball is not available right now in terms of the rights and we believe the box in he's a great opportunity for us it's a growth pool and we would like you to create 16 events a year across America with the biggest budget in the sport and I'll Saturday here and try to sort of you know hide my Glee yeah and we start our first show in Chicago next week's a massive job because now we've got 24 events here 16 over there it's 40 events plus more coming how many fighters design evolve I mean you know we've probably signed 20 fighters since in America still signing fighters who are 30 fighters here but the plan really is to establish match room is almost like a UFC global brand where we can create events in the UK in America coming up Italy in Japan and but how but you said early you need the big star names and he's a big star name in Chicago and it's in America I mean you got Gerald Miller you've got three world championship fights over there America doesn't have those standout names so you have to have a depth of quality in the bill we need to also also are sort of numbers where you get four five thousand what about on the zone couple of hundred thousand because they've just launched so small yeah yeah very small to start with so it's it's a streaming service where it's a monthly subscription and what they feel is that your cable subscription which might be two hundred and fifty dollars a month in America it starts to should become fragmented right so get rid of your cable and get Netflix and get design and get Amazon Prime and you'll pay a tenth of what you will for your existing cable product and that's that's what they're banking on that the future is on stream you know is watching off your mobile phone watching off your tablet and you only have to look at our children to see they're right you know what some were there any other sports that we don't know about that you're looking at and what we talked about the eSports stuff daily sports don't see them no I mean we always think we're moving into basketball a little bit and gymnastics is a new sport for us as well we get a lot of Rugby League if we move into that do you find these traditions more traditional Olympic style sports do they is there a culture that sort of resisted you until you very much so I mean gymnastics is a great example you know we moved in to gymnastics and you know you sort of see the the red the red blazer brigades or look nice I'm not sure about you know and darts was the same now when we went in there was always that resistant resistance between the video and the PDC PDC was the breakaway governing body and smoker as well yeah we don't do things the traditional way we just then so what you gonna do is gymnastics but we want to make it more entertaining we want to make it more accessible you know when you go to gymnastics the great thing about gymnastics we did the World Cup of gymnastics was I went to the o2 and the foil a it was like a festival you know there's kids and my kids all my kids do that both gymnasts they just all I wanna do is do cartwheels somersault from walkovers and to see that many kids just enjoying themselves enjoying the spool it's different for us you know the target market is completely different we talked about the sports where I feel I'm the target market that's very very different but when you see the passion of these young kids and the fact that their parents are making the effort to take them to the clubs to take them to these events you know there's a market there and it is entertaining it is incredibly skillful and it is good to watch if the production can be put together in an entertaining way that makes good TV as well and that's also when we talk about the crowds as a TV product one of the reasons darts is such a high rate in sport and TV is because people are watching the crowd going that is crazy and now they're doing it in boxing and they want to go you know five or six years ago on Sky we were in the Huddersfield Leisure Centre for a fight for a Commonwealth title with two guys now I never heard of and there was 400 people in an 800-seat Leisure Centre you turn it on and you go why is it where is it now you turn on anti Joshua and watch 80,000 at Wembley with fireworks going off as he walks out and you go wow I want to go that's the difference and you can do that with gymnastics as well now we saw you dad earlier and as he said by his own admission ease to the right of Genghis Khan yeah so where are you on the physical space well you're asking the wrong person and I follow pretty much everything that my my old man does or teaches me you know his his brexit views are extremely interesting and I loved watching your debate with him because in that respect I'm highly uneducated in politics so I listen to what he's got to say and as far as he's concerned he's a hundred and ten percent right at all times and then I listen to what you say and I say you've got a great point there so you know when you talk about referendum and public vote oh I agree with his point of a u-turn is you know what is the point in having the public vote in the first place but also now that same public are more educated about their decision yeah so you know he's a he's a really strong believer of Britain you know we should stand alone how about Europe we'll make our own rules we'll make we'll do anything I have a lot of friends in the city a lot of friends and you know their view is completely different when when that when that referendum was announced they couldn't believe it I mean was a complete disaster so I hear both sides of the spectrum but you know boringly my answer is I just keep my nut down and work as hard as I can would you vote yeah yeah Oh conservative how would you end did you vote in the referendum yeah and to leave and what would you if there's another one to leave because again it comes more because of probably the way I'm built and and my father's views and I know that's a a cop-out in some respects but you know I do believe in the ability I think his mentality is he would rather total control of uncertainty the no control over something that was a little bit more certain if that makes sense and and you know I probably don't know enough to vote you know I mean I need to come on already education for our doctor yeah got loads of time for that but you know when you when you work in a business like I do sadly if you take your after book in certain things you got absolutely no but you'll still where what's going on do you not sort of just feel the there's kind of a total mix I mean I look at it and he was interested in your your chat earlier with him talking about visas for fighters and darts players coming in out of the country and obviously currency issues as well and it is something that would affect our business as well but you know we've always been you know we're passionate about what we believe in but has also been a business and a family that will deal with what we have to deal with and he sure his views of Corbin you know again not quasi Street yeah not quite as extreme but he's been there you know he tells me the stories of you know labor are in and the tax rate was the best years of your life or in labor wearing so seven to two thousand seven we talking again I think that when you when you're brought up with that mentality yeah you know it's you know it's an interesting view but he the thing is with my old man is he don't get many things wrong you know and I'm not saying he's right about that yeah but I trust him more time you know I would back him I would back him he'd do well do well in government the old man you know he knows how to do great business and he's incredibly intellectual each speech well you know he's a great salesman you know he's a numbers man and just wrong well he's wrong but maybe what some yeah but you mentioned Don King early and I mean how how worried are you about there's always been this sense of organized crime being very close to boxing is that still the case no I mean we don't see it you know I mean I think that's a very old-school mentality it's definitely a perception that people have it was the case even now you know there'll be a decision that comes out yeah fight will go two points yeah one fight will win that probably the other gosh that's Hearn he's bummed him the brown envelopes he's a gangster yeah you know I mean that's that's laughable really but that is but you know almost that's one of the murky attractions of the sport boxing does that make sense yeah I'm cancer the boxer you know tonight yeah boxing that bit dodgy it's no it's not dodgy at all and actually as it continues to grow it becomes exactly the opposite it's more regulated than ever I mean the bigger problem now about organized crime that doesn't exist but the bigger problem now is doping you know and performance-enhancing drugs they're probably not really in Britain but it is definitely here is the governing bodies now trying a wipeout because back in the day there was no testing it might be testing on fight night which is biggest waste of time going yeah but in Kemp no one was getting tested and you came we go back to the the art of box you know and you know the the the idea of boxing to hurt your opponent to knock him out and you might have an idea where a fighter is on performance-enhancing drugs for the entire camp to get stronger to be faster to hit harder that's a bigger problem in this sport was a problem in all sports by the way but it's something now that as the sport grows is being eradicated slowly but at least we're moving yeah because that's something that's unacceptable no cheating through performance-enhancing drugs and sprinting is one thing doing in boxing is a whole nother level because well because you're trying to knock out your opponent right so you've got a none you got on you know an unlawful physical advantage of trying to do achieve that is it you should you should be imprisoned for for cheating in boxing on performance-enhancing drugs and it goes on and we're trying to get it out of the spool and actually now a lot of fighters are fail at failing in tests because there's a much wider testing program I still don't get the point as to why it's so much worse in boxing than others because you're having a physical you're gaining physical advantage when the idea is to essentially do physical harm to your opponent so you are stronger than natural you're punching harder than your opponent who was one of the drugs that help anything I mean you know any kind of steroid any kind of weight cutting drug anything that's gonna increase oxygen flow to the body to be able to train harder to make you stronger than someone who's not but if you were talk about the sorts of money that we've been talking about these we've seen in cycling why isn't there the incentive to try to do that oh that that's probably one of the problems there maybe they are thinking oh if I win this fire I'll get a bigger pay down if I take this I've got a better chance of winning I mean cycling's become a joke you know the general perception of cycling outside of the fan base is Sullivan which is me yeah but I'm that guy where I might watch it now and again what do I think is I he's a complete joke everyone's cheating but I'm the casual fan hmm but the casual fan makes up 95% of the audience just like in boxing if people in box if the casual audience in boxing start thinking it's a sport littered with drugs and everyone's cheating it's done hmm so we've got what how widespread you think is no it's it's a problem but it's solvable and it's being dealt with so it's just something that we've got to get on top of it just comes down to a costing you know every Anthony Joshua fire will employ Varda testing which is the the voluntary anti-doping agency it costs 40,000 to test both fighters continuously through their camp probably twice a week for 10 or 12 weeks it's a long running we can do it on those shows because a lot you don't yeah but on the smaller shows how can a small Hall promoter pay that sort of money when the show might be losing 10 or 20 grand you know so is it happening more at the lower levels probably not probably not because this is access to you know to the drugs access to the knowledge of what sighing can do and it rarely comes from a fighter by the way just lighting athletics coach no I remember I used to hang around a lot with Dwayne Chambers growing up and the lovely guy and when he got done for doping I couldn't believe it I'd say think way wrong I think was because he went some ways I think he Victor Conti went to went to camp all of a sudden oh I know everyone's taking these hmm I don't know any different so no it's something we've gotta get on top of good nothing on bird um [Music]

Channel: British GQ

Views: 256,045

Keywords: alastair campbell, anthony joshua, behind the scenes, boxing, british gq, british gq style, british magazine, british style, celebrity, eddie hearn, fashion, gq, gq uk, luxury, menswear, men’s fashion, men’s lifestyle, men’s style, sports, style, style guide

Id: qzobxCNt5Eg

Length: 56min 40sec (3400 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 06 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/GenericRedditUser01]

r/boxing: "Eddie Hearn is the biggest twat that gets posted here."

Alastair Campbell: "Hold my beer."

[u/TheSwegMagician]

Eddie Hearn is the most likeable person in this interview.

Let that sink in...

[u/deepmind_is_skynet]

Interesting interview but this was filmed just after Groves Smith - why wait so long to release it and let so many talking points become outdated?

[u/skb96]

When I saw this crop up on my YouTube feed I thought god had sent something down on earth to make my eyeballs bleed.

[u/SeanYted]

Ahhh Alistair Campbell the good old war criminal

[u/harryq15]

I would literally rather die

[u/[deleted]]

Interesting interview