During a media event regarding the upcoming Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua 2 card, Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn spoke highly of Conor McGregor and pitched a future partnership with “The Notorious.”
In an interview with Seconds Out, Jamal Niaz, mentioned Conor McGregor. Hearn spoke highly of the former two-division champion.
“I don’t know what’s happening with his career or fights,” Hearn said of McGregor. “I’m not really up to speed on the MMA and UFC side. But I do know, he’ll always be probably the biggest draw in UFC.”
The reporter then asked Eddie Hearn if he’d be interested in working with Conor McGregor if he returns to boxing.
“I’d like to think so, but he’s got a big enough brand, it’s almost like does he really need me?”
Hearn elaborated and compared a potential Conor McGregor partnership to his partnership with Gennady Golovkin.
“It’s a bit like Gennady Golovkin with us representing,” he said. “He can do it himself, but we can do it better with him. Not for him, with him,” he said.
“It’s very much once they get to those kinds of levels of partnership, where you say to someone ‘Conor look, we know you’re the boss, you’re the brand, but behind the scenes in terms of revenue, in terms of PR, in terms of profile, in terms of logistics, and of general management of your show to make your life easier, we’re as slick as they come. And that’s where the relationships come in with Gennady as well. And when you get those kinds of things it’s a big honour because those guys can go for anyone..and that’s big for us.”
Hearn recalls being starstruck and asking for a picture the first time he met Conor McGregor.
“I’ve never met him before so,” he recounted. “So he’s walking down the corridors of the fight. He’s got this massive aura, massive aura! So I was (actually) a bit in awe, you know. I just said ‘crikey can I have a photo mate?”
“[He said] Hey Eddie how’re you doing?’ and I thought ‘fuck well, you know me?’ It was great to have him there.”
McGregor’s first and only official boxing match was against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in August, 2017 McGregor gave a valiant performance but was ultimately defeated by the boxing champion via TKO stoppage in the 10th round.
His last fight in MMA was another loss against the undefeated lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov. Conor McGregor is yet to confirm his next MMA fight, let alone a boxing return, so all Eddie Hearn’s comments are hypothetical. Nonetheless, McGregor now knows he has Eddie Hearn in his corner if he ever needs him.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/4/2019.