PHOENIX: The biggest fight Eddie Hearn can make for the US market, he said, remains one between his boxer Devin Haney, and Golden Boy Promotions' Gen-Z superstar fighter Ryan Garcia.
"I think it's a makeable fight for us now," Hearn told ProBox TV this week at the Footprint Center in Phoenix — the Arizona venue in which Jaime Munguia and another of Hearn's boxers John Ryder compete in a super middleweight match atop a Golden Boy show featuring a lot of top, young talent.
Ahead of the event, Hearn told ProBox TV and other media at Thursday's final press conference that his company Matchroom's collaboration with Golden Boy through the years did not get off to the best start, but he believes his squad are closing the gap on Golden Boy's, as the UK fight firm are currently 4-2 down when it comes to results.
Hearn hopes Ryder can score an upset win over Munguia and narrow that gap to 4-3.
Golden Boy boss Oscar de la Hoya has long challenged other promoters to work with him, and each other, so that they can all deliver the best bouts possible for the American boxing market.
For this event alone, there is de la Hoya and his partner Bernard Hopkins, Hearn from Matchroom, Fernando Beltran from Zanfer, Miguel Cotto Promotions, and, even, Sampson Lewkowicz from Sampson Boxing.
It appears many involved with keep that collaborative energy going forward, with Hearn and de la Hoya considering other matches they could make together.
One, maybe, involves Haney-Garcia.
"I know there's a lot going on with Ryan and Golden Boy, and whoever he's going to fight next," said Hearn, "But I think that's a fight that we could make."
The fight makes a lot of sense.
They've fought six times before, in the amateur scene, and a winner of the rivalry is yet to emerge as they have three wins each.
Toward the end of last year, they have been linked with one another in the professional circuit, and announced on social media that they were locked in negotiations.
"I’ve advised my team to contact team Haney to discuss and make the fight happen between Devin and I," said Garcia on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. Haney, around that time, responded positively to the post.
Since them, Garcia has played whack-a-mole with possible opponents but has never managed to make anything land. Through his own social media channel, or via promoter de la Hoya, he's been linked with Rolando Romero, to Jose Ramirez, and then back to Romero.
'Rolly,' though, is fighting Isaac Cruz on March 30 as part of Premier Boxing Champions' kick-off show on Amazon Prime in Las Vegas.
It leaves Garcia without a dancing partner.
It's unclear if Hearn and Haney can resurrect those negotiations right now, but if they're not Garcia's most immediate opponent, then it's no doubt conversations they want to return to in the coming months/year.
Hearn's relationship with Canelo helped him in North America, he said, and especially with the Hispanic market
Hearn has already helped organize some of America's biggest shows since launching Matchroom US.
The most notable, of course, the swing Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez enjoyed while with Matchroom, fighting at the T-Mobile Arena against Dmitry Bivol and Gennadiy Golovkin — both bouts in 2022.
That relationship, Hearn said, was "a blessing" for his company.
"One, because I made a lot of money out of it," he said, "But, two, because it enabled us to position ourselves in big fights, and it helped give Matchroom the profile among fighters — and particularly Hispanic fighters — as well, which is a key pillar of our marketing in America.
"So, You know, when I go to a fight now, like Saturday, everybody knows me," said Hearn. "Not because they're watching my shows in America but because I was Canelo's promoter, do you know what I mean?"
Those experiences with Canelo are events Hearn wants to re-experience but with other fights he can make.
2023 was remarkable because of how many extraordinary matches got made, and how many modern day great performances some fighters produced — from Gervonta Davis' finish over Ryan Garcia in the year's best-selling bout, to Terence Crawford's historic win over Errol Spence Jr., through to how Matchroom helped finish the year with a bang by booking Haney against Regis Prograis, before Bam Rodriguez vs. Sunny Edwards.
"We want more of those fights" like ones Matchroom promoted involving Canelo, Hearn told us.
"We made Devin against Regis — great fight," said Hearn. "We made Bam against Sunny, and we've got plenty more coming. We still want to make those major fights.
"And I think Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia is a very makeable fight — and it's right there."
As for well such a bout could land, Haney proved a ticket seller in Northern California when he scored a dominant win over Prograis inside San Francisco's Chase Center.
However, for Hearn, there's only one place to go for Haney-Garcia — the Fight Capital of the World.
"It did [sell well when Haney fought Prograis]," Hearn said. "But you know Vegas is going to give you the gate and allow you to make those big fights.
"That would be a Vegas fight."
