The two rival promoters went head-to-head at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester on Saturday night.
Eddie Hearn has worked closer with his rival promoters in recent times than ever before but February 15 saw them go head-to-head once again.
With Frank Warren’s Queensbury Promotions now joining the DAZN stable, Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions are now all on the same platform.
The competitive rivalry between them has gone from being a hurdle in putting on the biggest and best fights to a sign of how strong the sport is right now.
However, bringing boxing back in a big way hasn’t made it any easier for them to compliment one another when their rosters go head-to-head.
Eddie Hearn says he begrudgingly congratulated Oscar De La Hoya
On Saturday night in Manchester, Matchroom’s Jack Catterall went up against Golden Boy’s Arnold Barboza with both men looking to leave the Co-Op Live Arena with the WBO interim belt.
The visitor was able to pull off a split decision win in enemy territory, remaining undefeated to halt the Brit’s four-fight winning streak which included victorious over Jorge Linares, Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis.
Hearn spoke in a post-fight interview with Ring Magazine about the result and whether it hurt anymore to lose such a close fight against one of Oscar De La Hoya’s fighters.
He revealed that the two promoters had already shared an exchange once the result was read out with a friendly, if a little reluctant, congratulatory back-and-forth.
“Yeah I texted him already, I said congratulations with gritted teeth. No, he did, he said thank you. He said it was a very close, tactical fight and I said to him I thought we got it and I think he was quite surprised that he got the decision. I think he thought Arnold won but you know, in a fight as close as that, sometimes it goes your way. Tonight it didn’t and congratulations to Arnold Barboza.”
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Eddie Hearn had no complaints with the decision verdict
Promoters are always going to be slightly biased towards their fighters but in this case, Eddie Hearn didn’t have a major issue with the split decision result.
He told Ring Magazine that whilst he thought Jack Catterall might have edged it in the final rounds, he knew that it could go either way and neither man could be too upset about it.
That being said, he did mention the 10th round where a knockdown could’ve been scored for Catterall but the referee Steve Gray declared that it was a trip instead.
It’s certainly a big setback for Catterall who appeared to be on his way to finally becoming a world champion before coming across Barboza.