Hearn Plays Down Idea Of Prizefighter Revival

By Elliot Foster

Eddie Hearn has played down the idea of bringing back Prizefighter.

The Matchroom Boxing chief, who hasn’t promoted an edition of the knockout tournament in more than 12 months, said that it was unlikely that fans would see the £32,000 carrot-dangling show at any point in the near future.

Hearn was talking to an online videographer following the press conference to announce Anthony Joshua’s IBF heavyweight world title challenge against Charles Martin of America.

“When we were doing Prizefighters, I couldn’t count the number of tweets that we were getting, saying: ‘This is rubbish, get rid of Prizefighter,’ and now they’re saying: ‘Bring Prizefighter back, it’s great,’” he told Paul McKenna of PT Boxing.

“With the stable we’ve built, I can’t afford to use a Prizefighter date instead of a Saturday night fight night. We have a budget with our relationship with Sky [Sports] and, if I do a Prizefighter, I’m taking a Saturday night fight night away, which might service 10 of my fighters.

“I’d like to do one more as a little closer, but it’s tough to do [under the conditions of the Sky deal] and I think it’s done now.”

The last edition of the eight-man, seven-fight, one-night tournament was held on St. Valentine’s Day last year at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens and was won by undefeated middleweight Tom Doran.

Elliot Foster is part of the BoxingScene.com. UK news team. Twitter: @FreelanceFoz