“The reality is a lot of these fighters have this sort of grand illusion that they really can run their own promotional company and take over,” Hearn told the Punch Podcast. “They love to have a promotional company, and they love their logo on the ring mat and on the poster, but I’ve worked with these guys before, Devin Haney included, and when it comes down to it, they don’t really want to take any responsibility or financial risk in a show.”
Hearn gave an example involving Haney, claiming he offered a true co-promotional partnership that was quickly turned down.
“I’ve said to Devin before, you know, if you want, we’ll go 50/50 on the show. Oh, no, no, no. I said, but if it don’t work, are you going to pay half? No. Just what’s my purse?”
A true 50-50 arrangement would require sharing the financial downside if an event failed to generate enough revenue.
“You want David Diamante to go, ‘In association with Devin Haney Promotions,’” Hearn continued.
While Haney now enjoys greater control over his career decisions, Hearn maintains that independent fighters still depend on established promoters to execute major events. He pointed to Rolando Romero’s fight against Teofimo Lopez as a PBC operation, despite the fighters maintaining their own business banners.
“These guys don’t have the infrastructure and the ability to run high-level operations and shows,” Hearn said.
While maintaining a promotional entity gives Haney leverage at the negotiating table, Hearn’s point remains simple: putting your logo on a poster is vastly different from putting your own money on the line.
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