"He puts them in a position where they lose" - Don King on Eddie Hearn as a boxing promoter

Don King (left), Eddie Hearn (right) - Images via @wbaboxingofficial, @eddiehearn on Instagram

Veteran promoter Don King recently expressed his thoughts on Eddie Hearn while promoting a press conference for his next event. At the age of 90, Don King will promote a clash between Daniel Dubois and Trevor Bryan on June 11 in Miami, Florida.

While hosting the press conference for the heavyweight clash, King gave a unique and bizarre speech before humiliating Dubois for his defeat to Joe Joyce. The contest will be for Bryan's WBA (Regular) Heavyweight Title, which is a lesser version of Oleksandr Usyk's WBA (Super) Heavyweight Championship.

After the press conference, the veteran spoke to iFL TV about Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn. King was asked his opinion of the British promoters, including Hearn, to which he responded:

"I feel sorry for Eddie Hearn because he's taking everybody's top quality guys. He's being the master of losing money, but more importantly, he's losing the reputation of the gladiator [Anthony Joshua] that he has instead of extolling his vertue and putting him out there in front of the people so he can be lavishly praised."

King added:

"He puts them in a position where they lose. They lose all the lust that they had [for boxing], why they worked up and did it. I could help Eddie because I like Eddie. He's young and the son of Barry."

Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua have been partnered up since the very beginning of the fighter's professional career.

The two fights 'AJ' lost were against Andy Ruiz Jr. and Oleksandr Usyk. The loss to Ruiz came in their first encounter when the Mexican shocked the world with one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Joshua went on to rectify his mistakes in their rematch, earning the nod on the scorecards

The defeat to Usyk is yet to be rectified as the pair are set to have a rematch this summer. The Ukrainian dominated Joshua last year and claimed the Englishman's world titles.

However, Usyk is a much more-highly regarded competitor than Ruiz was before beating Joshua. The current Heavyweight Champion is a former undisputed Cruiserweight Champion.

Watch King's full interview here:

---

Is Don King overexaggerating about Eddie Hearn putting fighters in a position to lose?

Hearn's most notable fighters include Anthony Joshua and Canelo Alvarez, who have both experienced defeat under the wing of the British promoter.

The most significant defeat was the Mexican's recent loss to Dmitry Bivol on May 7, which saw the former pound-for-pound king promoted by Hearn on DAZN.

Alvarez was, however, already willing to take risks by stepping up multiple weight classes to compete. The four-weight would champion was testing himself before he was promoted by Hearn and has proved to be too good to stay in his lower weight divisions.

Ultimately, Eddie Hearn is one of the biggest promoters in the sport of boxing and he continues to host great events.

The expectation for Joshua and Alvarez is to compete in the biggest fights. Hence, King's comments about Hearn may be slightly over the top for a promoter who is aiming to give his fighters the huge bouts they want.

Read here: Latest info on Don King's Net Worth