Eddie Hearn Roasts Dana White After Zuffa Boxing Loses Shakur Stevenson
Hearn called Shakur's exit from Zuffa the most embarrassing thing he has ever seen in boxing.
Eddie Hearn is not letting Dana White live this one down.
The Matchroom Boxing chairman went on iFL TV and delivered a thorough roasting of Zuffa Boxing after Shakur Stevenson secured his release from the promotion without ever fighting under its banner. Hearn said the situation was so embarrassing he initially thought it was fake.
"I thought it was a publicity stunt, to be honest with you," Hearn told iFL TV, per Sherdog. "I don't think, in the history of boxing, that has ever happened."
Zuffa Boxing, the boxing arm of the UFC headed by Dana White, signed Stevenson in July. The former unified champion was supposed to be the promotion's crown jewel. Instead, he walked away months later without throwing a single punch for them.
Hearn twisted the knife further with one of the better lines in recent boxing press.
"They have made history there by actually signing a fighter and never giving him a fight," Hearn said.
The jab lands harder given White's repeated promises about what Zuffa Boxing would accomplish by the end of the year. Hearn made it clear that Matchroom would be happy to step in where Zuffa stumbled, signaling interest in working with Stevenson going forward.
The Hearn-White feud also extends to the upcoming Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua fight on Dec. 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, per Sherdog. White has said he will help produce the broadcast. Hearn maintains that the existing contract does not allow White's involvement without an agreed change. The two sides remain at odds over who controls the production.
For Zuffa Boxing, the Stevenson exit is more than a bad look. It raises real questions about whether the promotion can attract and retain elite talent in a sport where it has no track record.
This is brutal for Dana White and there is no way to spin it. You sign a former unified champion, your biggest name, and he leaves before he ever fights? That has literally never happened in boxing. Hearn is right about that, and you know he enjoyed saying it.
I have been skeptical about Zuffa Boxing from the jump. The UFC model works because Dana controls the entire ecosystem: the roster, the rankings, the matchmaking, the broadcast. In boxing, fighters have options. Promoters compete for talent. And when your biggest signing walks out the door without a fight, it tells every other boxer in the sport that maybe Zuffa is not the place to be.
The Fury-Joshua production drama is just more noise on top of a bad week. White needs a win in the boxing space and he needs it soon. If the Stevenson situation is any indication, Zuffa Boxing has a long way to go before it can compete with the established promoters.
