‘People were throwing things’ – Eddie Hearn almost retired from boxing after promoting ‘worst fight ever’
Eddie Hearn almost retired from boxing after staging what he describes as the ‘worst fight ever’ between Audley Harrison and David Haye. Hearn got his big break in boxing when he met Olympic gold medallist Harrison at a Las Vegas poker table in 2009. Hearn almost gave up boxing in 2010Getty Harrison had just suffered the fourth defeat of his professional career at the hands of Belfast taxi driver Martin Rogan and had been widely written off by the boxing fraternity having failed to live up to the expectations placed upon him after topping the podium at Sydney 2000. Despite this, the then-38-year-old was still filled with ambition and struck a deal with Hearn in Sin City to get himself a shot at the heavyweight world title. “I met Audley Harrison and we went through and won the European title and ended up fighting David Haye and from there I wanted to retire from boxing because it was the worst night of my life,” Hearn told Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk during a sit-down interview on the Box Office YouTube, channel in 2022. “I met Audley Harrison on a poker table in Las Vegas and we were playing poker and he said ‘Oh, you’re Matchroom! You do boxing, don’t you?’ “I said, ‘Not really, like, small shows.’ He went, ‘Look could you give me a fight? I still think I’ve got a lot to offer?’ “Audley was a big star in the UK, he’d won Olympic gold so people knew who he was, he was a six-foot-seven, huge guy and I phoned my Dad (Barry Hearn), and I said, ‘I’ve just met Audley Harrison, I think I can promote him.’ “I said to Audley, ‘I’m going to put you in Prizefighter, you’re going to win it then I’m going to get you a shot at the European title, you’re going to win it, and then we’re going to fight David Haye for the world title.’ He went, ‘OK.'” Everything panned out as Hearn had hoped. Harrison beat Scott Belshaw, Danny Hughes, and Coleman Barrett to scoop the Prizefighter 8 crown in October 2009 before landing a European title shot against Michael Sprott six months later. Sprott had knocked out Harrison three years prior for the English heavyweight strap at Wembley Arena, but ‘A-Force’ exacted his revenge with a last-gasp stoppage win. Harrison barely threw a punch for three roundsDave Thompson/PA Wire Haye’s victory over Harrison was his second successful WBA title defence Olympic gold medallist Harrison won 31 out of his 38 professional boutsPA/Richard Pelham The victory catapulted Harrison into an all-British showdown with reigning WBA heavyweight champion Haye in November 2010. Despite an entertaining build-up, the fight was an absolute stinker with Harrison landing just two punches in eight minutes. “We did it in Manchester, [it] sold out instantly, pushed the pay-per-view, which did hundreds of thousands of buys, and then on the night, Audley didn’t throw a punch,” Hearn added. “It was the worst fight ever. People were throwing things at me [as I was] leaving the arena and I said to myself after that night, ‘I’m done in boxing.'” After three rounds of posturing, Haye put the paying public out of its misery by rendering his rival unconscious with a spiteful flurry. Hearn thought his career was done before it had even got going, but Haye vs Harrison turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Hearn has gone on to have an excellent career since that nightGetty Images - Getty “Afterwards, people wouldn’t stop phoning me. Fighters, managers would ask, ‘Are Matchroom back in boxing?” he continued. “‘Look what you’ve done with Audley. I’ve got this guy, he’s so much better than Audley Harrison and you could do this.’ “We signed Darren Barker, Kell Brook and Carl Froch all within three weeks of that fight.” Fast forward to the present day and Hearn is one of the top promoters in the sport. The Matchroom chief has helped shape the careers of boxing greats like Anthony Joshua and Katie Taylor while elevating his father’s brand to new heights. None of this may have been possible had he not taken a chance on Harrison all those years ago. Follow talkBOXING on social media talkBOXING is now on Twitter and Facebook. Follow us on social media for big breaking boxing news, exclusive interviews and the best bits from our talkBOXING YouTube show. Like our Facebook page HERE Follow us on Twitter HERE Sign up for our WhatsApp channel HERE
Eddie Hearn almost retired from boxing after staging what he describes as the ‘worst fight ever’ between Audley Harrison and David Haye.
Hearn got his big break in boxing when he met Olympic gold medallist Harrison at a Las Vegas poker table in 2009.
Harrison had just suffered the fourth defeat of his professional career at the hands of Belfast taxi driver Martin Rogan and had been widely written off by the boxing fraternity having failed to live up to the expectations placed upon him after topping the podium at Sydney 2000.
Despite this, the then-38-year-old was still filled with ambition and struck a deal with Hearn in Sin City to get himself a shot at the heavyweight world title.
“I met Audley Harrison and we went through and won the European title and ended up fighting David Haye and from there I wanted to retire from boxing because it was the worst night of my life,” Hearn told Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk during a sit-down interview on the Box Office YouTube, channel in 2022.
“I met Audley Harrison on a poker table in Las Vegas and we were playing poker and he said ‘Oh, you’re Matchroom! You do boxing, don’t you?’
“I said, ‘Not really, like, small shows.’ He went, ‘Look could you give me a fight? I still think I’ve got a lot to offer?’
“Audley was a big star in the UK, he’d won Olympic gold so people knew who he was, he was a six-foot-seven, huge guy and I phoned my Dad (Barry Hearn), and I said, ‘I’ve just met Audley Harrison, I think I can promote him.’
“I said to Audley, ‘I’m going to put you in Prizefighter, you’re going to win it then I’m going to get you a shot at the European title, you’re going to win it, and then we’re going to fight David Haye for the world title.’ He went, ‘OK.'”
Everything panned out as Hearn had hoped.
Harrison beat Scott Belshaw, Danny Hughes, and Coleman Barrett to scoop the Prizefighter 8 crown in October 2009 before landing a European title shot against Michael Sprott six months later.
Sprott had knocked out Harrison three years prior for the English heavyweight strap at Wembley Arena, but ‘A-Force’ exacted his revenge with a last-gasp stoppage win.
The victory catapulted Harrison into an all-British showdown with reigning WBA heavyweight champion Haye in November 2010.
Despite an entertaining build-up, the fight was an absolute stinker with Harrison landing just two punches in eight minutes.
“We did it in Manchester, [it] sold out instantly, pushed the pay-per-view, which did hundreds of thousands of buys, and then on the night, Audley didn’t throw a punch,” Hearn added.
“It was the worst fight ever. People were throwing things at me [as I was] leaving the arena and I said to myself after that night, ‘I’m done in boxing.'”
After three rounds of posturing, Haye put the paying public out of its misery by rendering his rival unconscious with a spiteful flurry.
Hearn thought his career was done before it had even got going, but Haye vs Harrison turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“Afterwards, people wouldn’t stop phoning me. Fighters, managers would ask, ‘Are Matchroom back in boxing?” he continued.
“‘Look what you’ve done with Audley. I’ve got this guy, he’s so much better than Audley Harrison and you could do this.’
“We signed Darren Barker, Kell Brook and Carl Froch all within three weeks of that fight.”
Fast forward to the present day and Hearn is one of the top promoters in the sport.
The Matchroom chief has helped shape the careers of boxing greats like Anthony Joshua and Katie Taylor while elevating his father’s brand to new heights.
None of this may have been possible had he not taken a chance on Harrison all those years ago.
