Eddie Hearn: "I couldn't stop my legs from shaking!" Matchroom Boxing boss opens up about early stages of his career in 'Eddie & Barry Hearn: Off Limits'
Tuesday 24 November 2020 14:39, UK
Eddie Hearn has revealed how the brutally honest reaction of his father Barry helped him forge an immediate plan to regain Anthony Joshua's world titles.
The Matchroom Boxing boss admitted how he was left stunned by Joshua's stoppage loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in New York last June.
But Eddie Hearn quickly set the wheels in motion for an immediate rematch with Ruiz Jr after a brief conversation with Barry, the longstanding chairman of Matchroom Sport.
Speaking on 'Eddie & Barry Hearn: Off Limits', he said: "When you suffer a massive defeat, or a situation that you've never dealt with before, in the old days I would turn to him and say, 'Dad, bloody hell!'
"Even up to when AJ lost to Ruiz.
"The first person I turned to was him to say, 'What…'
"He just went, 'It's boxing, off you go.'
"Then you go alright, bang you're in it, you deal with everything. You deal with AJ, you deal with the media, you deal with the contract and on you go."
Joshua reclaimed his WBA, IBF and WBO belts in a points win over Andy Ruiz Jr last year and makes his next defence against Kubrat Pulev on December 12, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Sky customers: Buy Joshua v Pulev
Non-Sky customers: Buy Joshua v Pulev
Eddie had promoted another British heavyweight, Audley Harrison, in the early stages of his career and insists he initially struggled to contain his nerves in front of the media.
"The first press conference I ever gave with Audley Harrison and David Haye, I couldn't stop my legs from shaking," he said.
"Now I could talk to you for 24 hours about any fight, or any fighter.
"But I was sitting there and I put my hands on the table and I went to speak, and I could feel them going, so I put them underneath my legs, and then I just went for it."
Watch 'Eddie & Barry Hearn: Off Limits' On Demand.
