\n<\/p>\n
Just six months ago, nobody would have predicted Hearn and Warren would be playing a friendly and bizarrely captivating game of Jenga at April’s news conference.<\/p>\n
Their relationship now is far less fragile than the building block game. <\/p>\n
“We’re quite likeminded in a lot of things which I’ve found quite refreshing. I’m enjoying Eddie’s company,” Warren says.<\/p>\n
It is a rivalry steeped in history, ever since a young Hearn would listen to his father arguing with Warren on the phone.<\/p>\n
Hearn Sr – who until then had focused largely on snooker – capitalised when Warren was shot by a masked assailant in November 1989 and wealthy backers pulled their funding from the promoter.<\/p>\n
Boxers jumped ship to Matchroom but Warren’s resilience saw him fight back. He orchestrated the 1993 rematch between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank and two years later signed a lucrative contract with broadcasters Sky.<\/p>\n
History appeared to repeat itself years later when a fresh-faced Hearn Jr burst on to the scene and disrupted the market.<\/p>\n
Armed with prospects including Kell Brook and Tony Bellew – who would later become world champions – Hearn signed an exclusive deal with Sky Sports in 2012 which lasted nine years.<\/p>\n
As Warren and Hearn went about their business separately, fans and fighters suffered. <\/p>\n
Some crossover fights materialised, such as Kid Galahad crossing the divide to face Queensberry’s Josh Warrington in a featherweight world-title fight in 2019. <\/p>\n
But the super-fight between Joshua and Tyson Fury and a light-heavyweight domestic dust-up between Joshua Buatsi and Anthony Yarde are just two examples of how promoter conflict prevented some high-profile match-ups from taking place. <\/p>\n
That all changed when energy-rich Saudi Arabia entered the boxing foray.<\/p>\n
Now there was enough space – and money – for both Hearn and Warren to sit at the top table as Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority,<\/a> and Warren’s son, Queensberry CEO George Warren, insisted on co-operation.<\/p>\n “It took someone with a bit of sense to bang our heads together and say ‘guys we can do something really special’,” Hearn says.<\/p>\n He soon realised the Hearns and Warrens were not all that different.<\/p>\n “There are a lot of similarities with the families,” he adds. “We\u2019re both from working class backgrounds. Frank started well doing in business, then his son George came through in a similar upbringing to me and we both made it in the sport.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n