Hearn on IBF: "If You Have a Champion, You F***ing Hate Them"

The head of Matchroom Boxing, Eddie Hearn, shared his thoughts on the International Boxing Federation's (IBF) decision to call for purse bids for a fight between IBF welterweight champion Jaron Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) and mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs).

"You know what's the deal? If you have a mandatory challenger, you love the IBF rules. But if you have a champion, you f***ing hate them.

We have Jaron Ennis, who is on his way to becoming a superstar. He beat this guy, Karen Chukhadzhian, two fights ago or whenever it was. And that guy is a good fighter. But now we’re trying to make unification fights, which we were very close to doing, and now we have to fight this guy again.

Most of the time, I respect the IBF for not considering the commercial aspect of boxing. I could call IBF president Daryl Peoples and just say, 'Daryl, let’s talk about this for two minutes. Let’s put this in perspective. You’re mandating a fight against a guy we already beat two fights ago, and nobody wants to see it,' and he’ll say, 'Sorry, he’s the mandatory.'

Unfortunately, Brian Norman’s team, which is a bit like a circus, now comes back saying, 'Oh, actually, we’ll accept the offer.' And it’s like, 'Mate, the IBF has already called for purse bids. Under IBF rules, you can’t get an exemption once they’ve set the date for bids.' Now we’re going back to the IBF asking, 'Are you sure about this? Is there any way around it?' Because I think Brian Norman realized, 'Oh, I made a mistake, I’m going to lose a lot of money here.'

It’s frustrating, and I think the most annoying thing about the IBF—though I love Daryl Peoples, I think he’s a great guy—is that they just can’t have a common-sense conversation. And you know, when they had those problems years ago, they’re now so scared to go against their own rules, which I think some might even find refreshing.

If you look at the situation with Anthony Joshua, I was getting a ton of questions, especially from people who don’t understand. Filip Hrgović waited, if I’m not mistaken, almost two years for his mandatory fight. There were, I think, two exceptions that happened earlier, and when the Dubois-Hrgović fight was signed, there was an agreement with the IBF that the winner would fight the winner of Usyk-Fury, so sometimes there’s a historical process that means they have to make certain decisions.

But I just think this mandatory fight for 'Boots' is a specific decision, where Chukhadzhian was already the mandatory two years ago and now is again without beating anyone significant, and just a little common sense would be appropriate," Hearn said.

Earlier reports suggested that Ennis might vacate his title and move up in weight.

On July 13, Jaron Ennis stopped David Avanesyan (30-5-1, 18 KOs). In May, Karen Chukhadzhian defeated Harry Scarff (13-3, 3 KOs) by unanimous decision.