Eddie Hearn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eddie Hearn
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Hearn in 2019
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Edward John Hearn
8 June 1979 Essex, England
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| Education | Brentwood School Havering Sixth Form College |
| Occupation | Businessman, sports promoter |
| Title | Chairman of Matchroom Sport |
| Spouse(s) | Chloe Hearn |
| Children | 2 |
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Edward John Hearn (born 8 June 1979) is a British sports promoter. He is the chairman of Matchroom Sport and the Professional Darts Corporation. Eddie Hearn has helped many world champion boxers. These include famous names like Anthony Joshua, Canelo Álvarez, and Katie Taylor. He is the son of Barry Hearn, who started Matchroom Sport.
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Eddie Hearn's Education Journey
Eddie Hearn went to a private school called Brentwood School, Essex. He found it hard to get into the next level of schooling there. This was because his grades in his GCSEs were not very good.
He was good at sports like cricket and football. His father, Barry, asked the school to let him stay because of his sports skills. But the school said no. Eddie then went to Havering College of Further and Higher Education. This college did not pick students based on their grades.
His father encouraged him to study hard. He promised Eddie £1,000 for good grades in his A-level subjects. Eddie studied communications, physical education, and business. He earned two C grades and one A grade.
Starting His Career
Matchroom Sport was created by Eddie's father, Barry Hearn. After finishing college, Eddie started working at a company that managed golfers. Later, he began promoting online poker games for Matchroom. These events were shown on TV around the world. In the UK, they were broadcast on channels like Channel 4, Channel 5, and Sky Sports.
Key Moments in His Career
Becoming a Boxing Promoter
In 2010, Eddie Hearn met boxer Audley Harrison during a poker game. He agreed to help Harrison get his career back on track. This led to Harrison fighting heavyweight champion David Haye. This fight helped Eddie start his career in boxing promotion and build Matchroom Boxing.
Working with Anthony Joshua
In 2013, Hearn signed a deal with Anthony Joshua. This was one year after Joshua won a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics. Hearn has promoted all of Joshua's fights since then. Many of these were world championship fights.
Big Boxing Events
In 2014, Hearn promoted a huge boxing match between Carl Froch vs. George Groves II. This event took place at Wembley Stadium and had 80,000 fans watching.
In 2015, Hearn made a special TV deal with Sky Sports in the UK. This deal meant Sky Sports would show up to 20 boxing events each year. This partnership lasted for six years, until 2021.
Another massive fight Hearn promoted was Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko in 2017. This fight also happened at Wembley Stadium, with 90,000 fans attending.
Expanding to the United States
In 2018, Hearn announced a huge deal worth $1 billion. Matchroom and the streaming service DAZN agreed to show boxing events across the United States. As part of this deal, Hearn and Matchroom Boxing would put on 16 shows in America. These would be shown only on DAZN in the U.S. Also, 16 of his UK shows would be available on the platform.
Promoting Unique Fights
In 2019, Hearn agreed to promote a professional boxing match between YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul. This fight happened in Los Angeles. Some boxing fans were not happy about this. They felt that KSI and Paul did not have enough experience for Hearn to promote them. However, Hearn said their first amateur fight was "a really good fight."
Later in 2019, Hearn faced some criticism for holding the Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II fight in Saudi Arabia. Some people were concerned because of the country's human rights record. Hearn defended his choice by saying Saudi Arabia wanted to improve its image. He also said his job was to find the best chances for his fighters.
New Leadership Role
In April 2021, Eddie Hearn became the Chairman of the Matchroom Group. His father, Barry Hearn, stepped down from that role. Barry became the president of the group, offering advice.
Record-Breaking Events and New Deals
On 8 May 2021, Hearn promoted the Canelo Álvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders fight. Over 73,000 fans watched this event in Texas. This broke the record for the most people at an indoor boxing event in the United States. Matchroom then made another deal with Canelo Álvarez for two more fights.
In June 2021, Hearn announced a five-year deal with DAZN. This meant all Matchroom fighters would move to DAZN. This ended Matchroom's long partnership with Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland. Now, all Matchroom events are shown only on DAZN worldwide.
In September 2021, Hearn and Anthony Joshua announced a new deal. This deal will last until the end of Joshua's boxing career.
In April 2022, Hearn helped promote the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fight in New York City. This was a very important event because it was the first time a women's fight was the main event at Madison Square Garden.
In 2024, Hearn took part in a special boxing event called Queensberry vs. Matchroom 5v5 in Saudi Arabia. He competed against another promoter, Frank Warren. Each promoter chose five fighters. Despite Hearn's efforts, his team lost all their matches.
Eddie Hearn's Personal Life
Eddie Hearn lives near Billericay in Essex with his wife, Chloe, and their two daughters. He usually has a good relationship with the boxers he promotes. He is good friends with former boxing champion Tony Bellew. Eddie helped Bellew's career improve a lot. In 2020, Anthony Joshua said that he and Eddie "will always have a great friendship."
In 2021, after Hearn promoted a boxing event in California, the Mayor of Fresno declared 16 October as "Matchroom Boxing and Eddie Hearn Day."
