Promoter Eddie Hearn disgusted by stories of pro fighters not getting paid or getting paid so late that it’s detrimental to their families.
Money makes the world go round, as they say.
No matter what job someone is doing for a living everyone deserves to be paid for that job, and on time. That almost goes without saying really.
Especially a job like being a professional fighter, perhaps one of the hardest ways to earn a living of them all.
One of the world’s leading boxing promoters has brought an issue in his opinion to the surface that he is extremely passionate about:
“It disgusts me the stories I hear in this game about fighters not getting paid and waiting 6,7,8 10 months, a year to get paid. Fighters – wise-up. You put the graft in – you get paid. Simple as that. You can’t be going into a fight wondering if you’re going to be getting your pay check. If you’ve got any doubt don’t wait until the company folds on you to knock you for your purse money. Because it will happen. Go and look at the Companies House, look at the accounts and look at the state of some of these companies promoting boxing. It disgusts me that fighters are not getting paid on time. The governing bodies have got to do more – the authorities have got to do more to protect fighters.”
He added:
“Listen, If I’m working with a lot of promoters the money goes in Escrow (bank account). You can’t do a deal with someone that doesn’t have the money and what, you just hope they sell the tickets or hope that they get the TV revenue? You can’t put your fighters’ welfare on the line just like that. This is a crazy business that is tough, tough. If someone comes around my house and they are doing my roof and they are up there everyday in the cold on scaffolding, sweating their cods off with cold hands and taking knocks and bruises and they come down and I tell them I’m going to give them the money in eleven months? It doesn’t work like that. Life doesn’t work like that. You get paid what you deserve and you get it on time to feed your family. It really disgusts me, really disgusts me. Any fighter that is not getting paid or is owed money you’ve got to do something about it. Don’t just sit there and hope it comes.”
Hearn was speaking ahead of Belfast world champion Ryan Burnett’s unification fight on October 21st which will mark the first time a world title unification fight in boxing has ever taken place in Ireland.
For the full interview above check it out here on IFL TV YouTube (hat tip):
