Eddie Hearn immediately cautioned against an Australian takeover.
The iconic promoter proudly announced the launch of his Matchroom Boxing’s debut effort Down Under, with their first show set to take place this September at a location to be determined in Australia. The maiden voyage will feature several of the company’s rostered fighters, including an all-Aussie main event between unbeaten rising contenders Liam Paro (22-0, 13KOs) and Brock Jarvis (20-0, 15KOs) in a junior welterweight clash.
“Matchroom has a big global vision for the sport,” Hearn noted during Friday’s press conference in Brisbane. “We’re already in many territories around the world. The U.K of course being our prime market. The U.S. as well. Mexico, Italy, Spain, the Middle East.
Australia is a market we’ve been looking at very closely, a market that is very important to us. I have been around the world very aggressively. I come in peace to Australia. I’ve come here to understand your world. This is my first ever time in Australia. I’ve had a great time this week but it’s going to be an important market.”
The show will also feature undefeated heavyweight prospect Demsey McKean (21-0, 13KOs) in a step-up fight. Also on the card is promising featherweight newcomer Skye Nicolson (4-0, 0KOs), an Olympic quarterfinalist for Australia last summer in Tokyo who already enters her first ten-round fight for the Commonwealth title.
It was important to the Matchroom team to layer the show with the best Australian fighters on its roster, fighters who can make an immediate impact on the local scene. The formula has worked well for Matchroom in its U.K. home base, though a mixed bag has come in making inroads in the U.S. market. Hearn has caught plenty of backlash after claiming to conquer stateside upon the launch of Matchroom Boxing USA, and—to his credit—has applied those lessons into coming out strong in his Oz debut.
“I’ve been watching the great work done by the great promoters down here,” noted Hearn. “I’m really impressed by the shows, and more so by the talent pool. We want to bring something different to Australia. We want to bring money, we want to bring exposure. We want to invest in the professional level. Most important, we want to bring you great fights.
“We’re about a week or two from bringing you all of the details. We want to bring you a fight card with tremendous value from top to bottom. This main event is a great example of what we’re trying to do.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox