Once the dust settles – whenever it is done drifting, and wherever it ultimately lies – this week may be regarded as one of the most fascinating in boxing history.
It began with the stunning news of Conor Benn’s split from Eddie Hearn, as the British boxer joined rival promoter Dana White, and it has taken in reports of a $1bn court case.
Matchroom chief Hearn has said he expects the signing of Benn, by White’s new entity Zuffa Boxing, to be a singular chess move in what may be a decade-long promotional feud. Yet that feud may not be a simple 1 vs 1, after Wednesday’s report that Hearn’s fellow promoter Frank Warren is claiming $1bn in lost income from Zuffa Boxing’s owners.
Saudi official Turki Alalshikh brought Hearn and Warren together over the last couple of years, despite the Britons’ longstanding grudge, as the trio worked on numerous high-profile events; now, Hearn and Warren may need to band together to thwart what Alalshikh is building, given that he is working with White at Zuffa Boxing.
This has been a complex saga already, and within it, there is a feeling that a boxing civil war has broken out. Here’s what has happened so far, why, and what could come next…
A betrayal by Conor Benn?
On Friday night, Zuffa Boxing’s X account shared a post announcing Benn’s signing. It was scarcely believable. The account carries a blue tick – not gold – so there was some reason to question the post’s legitimacy. Even after that, the images of Benn and White together just looked… wrong, somehow, as if they could be AI. Of course this wasn’t the case, but it’s a testament to the surreality of the moment. And so The Independent approached Benn and his manager for comment, as well as sending other relevant parties the “is this real??” text. At least one figure had been caught off guard.
The main reason the news was so shocking was Benn’s relationship with Hearn; Matchroom had stuck by Benn during a three-year saga in which he couldn’t box on home soil after failing two drug tests. Hearn claimed he had even lent Benn “hundreds of thousands of pounds” during that time, in which the welterweight said he was as mentally low as someone could be.
Furthermore, Hearn claimed Benn wouldn’t even afford him a phone call to discuss the Zuffa move. “I made a mistake, because I misjudged the character,” Hearn told iFL TV late on Friday, the devastation and regret clear in his voice. “I’m not gonna hang him out to dry […] but when I received the email from his lawyer, I texted him and said: ‘For everything I’ve done for you, I think I deserve a call.’ And he said ‘no’, and I was like: ‘Man… f***… I can’t believe it.’”
What’s more, Benn joined White just days after the American launched a scathing tirade at Hearn, who soon fired back.
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Benn, 29, said he hopes he and Hearn can continue working together in some way, which truthfully sounded naive. Yet Benn may soon be a free agent again, with one executive confirming that Benn’s deal only includes one fight. Sports Illustrated reported that the contract is worth $15m, a number that Shapiro acknowledged but wouldn’t confirm.
Another interesting element is Benn’s long-standing desire to fight for the WBC title, considering Zuffa intends to move away from the traditional belt system. Even with that in mind, Benn was calling for a shot at new WBC champion Ryan Garcia within two days of joining Zuffa.
Thursday brought a surprise then, in the news that Benn will fight Regis Prograis in April, live on Netflix (on Tyson Fury’s undercard), and at a 150lb catchweight. The Netflix factor means Benn’s sole contracted fight with Zuffa may not even air on the promotion’s main broadcast platform, Paramount+.
Benn will also fight Prograis in London, despite Zuffa’s essence as an American brand and Benn’s apparent wish to box in the US. And for as much as Benn is reported to be earning regardless, there would have been a tax benefit to competing Stateside. But “it’s worth taking the tax hit to be on the Fury undercard”, argued Oriana Morrison, a sports accountant and tax strategist, while speaking to The Independent. “People are far more likely to watch something with Fury in it than without him. Benn will get that payout in the long run with Zuffa, Netflix, and Fury’s audience’s eyes on him.”
But back to the belts. Zuffa’s second-biggest signing is Jai Opetaia, the IBF cruiserweight champion who is desperate to collect the division’s other major titles. He will fight Brandon Glanton for the new Zuffa cruiserweight belt in March, and it’s unknown whether his IBF strap will be on the line in that contest. Opetaia and Zuffa’s goals don’t seem to align, yet the Australian insisted they do. Still, he fired a warning to Zuffa: “If we don’t get one [unification fight] by the end of the year, I’ll be very f***ing disappointed.”
Reports of a $1bn court case
The next major number to be reported this week was $1bn, as The Telegraph reported Warren is claiming that amount in lost income from Zuffa Boxing’s owners, TKO and Sela.
Here, it is worth explaining that TKO is a combat-sports brand – the parent company of WWE and the UFC, the latter of which’s president is Dana White – and Sela is a Saudi events company. The faces of Zuffa Boxing are White and Alalshikh.
Per The Telegraph, Warren’s company Queensberry is claiming that TKO and Sela breached contracts they had signed with him, going behind his back to form a partnership of their own. Queensberry is reportedly seeking up to $1bn (£740m) in compensation for income that the promotion claims it would have earned if the contracts had been honoured. Legal letters have reportedly been sent, and it is thought the case could end up with a formal claim being made in the High Court if there is no resolution.
Queensberry is said to have claimed that, in September 2023, it signed an exclusivity agreement with Sela, giving the Saudi firm access to Queensberry’s insight into boxing. Queensberry is also believed to be claiming that it signed a separate contract with TKO, allowing the brand access to Queensberry’s online data, including details of the Sela contract. The Telegraph reported that Warren did not sign any contracts with Alalshikh personally.
The Independent approached Queensberry, TKO and Sela for comment, and a spokesperson for Sela said: “We are disappointed by the unfounded claims brought by Queensberry and Frank Warren. We reject them in their entirety and are confident that the facts will fully vindicate our position.” Meanwhile, Warren told the BBC: “It’s just a difference of opinion over the contracts that we signed, so that will just take its course. I can’t make any comment on it. It is what it is.”
A bizarre response on X
Matters then became even more complicated. Later on Wednesday, the magazine The Ring – owned by Alalshikh – posted a controversial tweet, alleging the circulation of “rumours” about Queensberry’s business affairs. The Independent has approached Queensberry for comment on the post.
What next?
Last weekend, in the wake of the Benn news, boxing insider Dan Rafael tweeted: “If you think s*** happened today just wait. Ain’t seen nothing yet.” It’s unclear whether he was referring to the impending report of Warren’s alleged lawsuit or whether something else is coming. But what could be bigger right now?
In January, Oleksandr Usyk’s team director Sergey Lapin confirmed they been contacted by Zuffa. Signing the pound-for-pound No 1 would be a huge statement, of course, yet Usyk left his longtime promoter Alex Krassyuk last year, and he is late in his career now; while Usyk is the greatest talent that Zuffa could sign, such a move would lack the personal edge that made the Benn switch so captivating.
Should Zuffa sign Fury, that too would be a seismic acquisition from a talent perspective, though the British star is older, like Usyk. Still, the end of a partnership with Warren would feel significant.
Perhaps the only signing that would blow up boxing’s corner of the internet would be Anthony Joshua, another of Hearn’s key names – his most important of all, actually. Although “AJ” and Benn have both spent their entire professional careers with Hearn, the promoter was quick to contrast the British boxers, saying: “You can’t mention those in the same breath, for many reasons. Joshua is a different breed of class and loyalty.”
Hypothetically, if Zuffa were to sign Fury and Joshua and make that long-awaited super fight – without Warren and Hearn involved – that would constitute genuinely shocking news. Or maybe the next big development won’t pertain to the signing of a boxer, but to something more relevant to the sport’s wider landscape. At this point, it feels fair to say that nothing is impossible. A new era has begun: an era of boxing civil war.
