EDDIE Hearn has warned “everybody cracks at some point” as he reflected on the struggles of macho boxers in the aftermath of Ricky Hatton’s death.
The Matchroom chairman, 46, spoke candidly about the danger of vulnerability being a weakness in sport – and opened up about his own “tough love” upbringing.
Courtesy of Netflix.Eddie Hearn spoke to The Sun about his new Netflix docuseries[/caption]
GettyRicky Hatton was found dead at home aged 46[/caption]
Courtesy of Netflix.Eddie with his dad, founder of Matchroom, Barry Hearn[/caption]
It comes as his move to take over his dad Barry’s £1billion sports empire is being documented in a new ‘Succession-style’ series on Netflix.
On episode one of Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen, Eddie sparked discussion when he told the cameras he’d “never hear the end of it” if he told his dad he was going for therapy.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Eddie said: “I’m nothing like my dad when it comes to thoughts on mental health.
“We live in a society, especially for men, that doesn’t talk anywhere near enough and now you see fighters struggle.
“Ricky Hatton, who passed recently, is a good example of putting on a brave face. Sometimes it’s just a mask.
“Sport in general is difficult to not show masculinity in, but especially boxing, because people view it as a weakness or a vulnerability if you’re not macho or tough, and a lot of people aren’t, especially when a fighter gets beaten or their career comes to an end.
“People don’t realise, when Anthony Joshua lost to Daniel Dubois, it took him a long time to mentally and emotionally recover from that.
“He’s the kind of guy who even to me or to his closest friends he would show no signs of cracking, but deep down, it really hurt him, really hurt him.
“He broke down in tears and everyone was like, ‘woah, it’s AJ, he’s crying. What on earth‘s going on?’
“He’s just a normal guy. Everybody cracks at some point.”
The six-part docuseries was released in the same week world champion boxer Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton was found dead at home aged 46 having struggled with mental health, alcohol abuse and drug addiction throughout his life.
In a heart-wrenching moment during episode four, Matchroom boxer Conor Benn breaks down in tears as he admits to being suicidal before he was cleared of doping allegations after a two-year investigation.
Professional welterweight boxer Conor praised Eddie for “fighting his corner” and “believing in me and backing me when no one else did”.
His massive rematch against Chris Eubank Jr was announced by Eddie for November 15 at a heated press conference yesterday.
Eubank Jr sensationally accused the promoter of blocking his ambulance’s exit to the hospital after his narrow win in the first family grudge match, with the Essex promoter promising to sue after the wild claims.
Just hours before, Eddie opened up on the stress and pressure of being in the boxing business.
He said: “I remember having a conversation with my dad about how to be happy and he said, ‘all you do is you just look at yourself in the mirror and you say, I am happy’.
“I thought ‘wow, I can’t believe you’re actually saying that’. Mental health is, of course, real, but you’ve got to be tough with it as well, but he’s just on another spectrum.
“I’m definitely softening as I get a little bit older.
“I see nothing wrong with going to therapy, but that’s kind of me evolving still, because maybe 10 years ago I wouldn’t have gone for therapy.
Tough love
“A lot of people will say, ‘Eddie shows no emotion, he’s cold’, but that’s how I was brought up.
“Although I was extremely loved by my parents. They weren’t the kind of parents who would encourage me to sit on their lap for hours and hours.
“I was shown great love, but tough love as well.
“Although I thought my upbringing was very normal in some regards, it actually wasn’t normal in other regards.”
Throughout the Netflix series, Eddie speaks out about getting stick for living off his dad’s name and wealth.
Courtesy of Netflix.Eddie and Barry at Matchroom HQ[/caption]
As a kid, he used to be driven to school in a limo having been picked up from his family mansion, Mascalls, which Barry bought in 1982 for just £200,000 from Ford Motor Company using money made from selling snooker halls.
These days while nobody lives on site, it is the home of Matchroom as their fully operational business HQ, which is the main setting for the Netflix show.
Standing out on the the estate’s sprawling grounds in front of their pet alpacas, Barry calls his son and heir a “flash b*****d” – adding “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”.
Eddie: ‘Losing just makes me work harder’
During the funny and entertaining Netflix series, Eddie suffers several brutal defeats – including a 5V5 competition with rival promoter Frank Warren and Anthony Joshua’s loss to Daniel Dubois.
He jokes: “This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t signed this Netflix contract.”
Eddie even faced criticism from his 15-year-old daughter and her younger sister, 13, who he chose to keep off camera because “they already get a load of stick having me as a dad”.
“My eldest is watching the series and her first comment was, ‘yeah, it’s good, but you lose a lot in it’,” Eddie says.
“In an ideal world, AJ would have beat Dubois. We would have won the 5v5, but that wouldn’t be a great show.
Courtesy of Netflix.Barry is priming Eddie to take over Matchroom[/caption]
“I think it’s good for my kids to understand as well that it’s not just you go to work, you win, you make money, you go to work, you lose, you have bad days. You have a lot of pressure.
“But losing is the one thing that probably gets me more than anything. Especially when I’m like AJ or something like that, and it’s like, we’re so close, we all feel disappointed.
“If you imagine how the nation feels when AJ loses, times that by a million, and that’s how I feel.
“I know what it means to him so it’s the pain of seeing him give everything and come out second best…”
Eddie’s voice trails off. Asked how he copes when things go wrong, he replies: “It’s actually just to work harder.
“When something goes wrong, I would just go, ‘right, come on, we’ve got to go at it’ and it’s probably not the right answer, but it’s just my way because I’ve just been taught that if you consistently do the right thing, and you work as hard as you can, you’re going to win.
“I don’t know if that’s going to be tomorrow or in six months, but the more you lose, and the more you put yourself in uncomfortable situations, the easier they are to deal with.”
Watch Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen on Netflix now.
Courtesy of Netflix.Eddie says losing only makes him work harder[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
