Eddie Hearn has opened up about a tense ringside encounter with Devin Haney, a former champion under his guidance. Their relationship, which once flourished during Haney’s rise to the title in 2019, has soured since the two parted ways. The split occurred when Haney opted to pursue an undisputed fight against George Kambosos Jr. with Top Rank, leading to a public fallout, particularly highlighted before Anthony Joshua’s recent heavyweight bout against Daniel Dubois.

Haney sparked controversy by taking to Twitter to express his frustration with Hearn, accusing him of being “fake” for not securing tickets to the Joshua fight. “Wow, I’m in London… Eddie Hearn won’t give me tickets to the fight but keeps mentioning me every chance he gets… Eddie, the fakest ***** I ever met, bro,” Haney tweeted.

Hearn responded, labeling Haney as “arrogant” and recounting the morning exchange that led to the public spat. “You asked me at 6 AM this morning. First, I look after my fighters. Ask someone else and drop the arrogance,” Hearn stated.

Despite the tensions, Haney managed to gain entry to the event, where he was seen having a heated argument with Hearn. In an interview with Boxing News, Hearn explained what led to the Twitter outburst and the subsequent confrontation.

“It was heated. Given the relationship I’ve had with Devin and everything we’ve been through, I couldn’t believe he would put that out on social media,” Hearn said. He detailed the timeline of events leading up to the fight, noting that Haney initially messaged him at 6 AM on fight day, requesting tickets after an earlier message went unanswered.

Hearn clarified that all ringside tickets had been pre-assigned and that there were protocols in place for requests. He suggested Haney contact Riyadh Season for tickets, but received no response. Later, while at the show, Hearn saw Haney’s tweet and reacted by calling him an “arrogant f**king prick.”

In their ringside exchange, Hearn confronted Haney directly. “I pulled him at the show and said, ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ He replied, ‘Hey hey,’ and I said, ‘No, not hey hey… what are you doing?’” Hearn recounted. He expressed his discontent, emphasizing Haney’s arrogance and questioning why he hadn’t reached out directly for help instead of airing grievances on social media.

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Haney claimed that Hearn had made disparaging comments about him in the media, to which Hearn responded that he was merely answering questions and would always provide his honest opinion. “I’ve never said anything disrespectful but I said, ‘You have, so don’t ever disrespect me again.’ I had the hump about it. I just told him straight,” Hearn concluded.

This confrontation highlights the complexities of relationships in the boxing world, where personal and professional lines often blur, especially under the scrutiny of public and social media attention.