Eddie Hearn – “If I was a fighter, I would want to be from Belfast”

If Eddie Hearn was to trade his designer shoes for a pair of boxing boots, and make the ring not the negotiating table his home, he would want to hail from the fight capital of Ireland, Belfast.

Considering his links with Scott Quigg and the dislike both Cyclone and the Titanic City’s favourite fight son, Carl Frampton, have shown the Matchroom Boss, Hearn hasn’t always been a Belfast fan favourite, but it seems they are his favourite fans.

Speaking in the city this week ahead of Ryan Burnett’s world title tilt, Hearn waxed lyrical about the fight town.

The English promoter was adamant that the Belfast crowd could play a massive part in helping Burnett win a fight which Hearn wasn’t shy about stating was his only chance to become a big home star.

Hearn, who is hopefully 5000 will turn up for the IBF bantamweight title fight with champion Lee Haskins, sees tomorrow night’s clash as a massive opportunity.

Explaining his reasoning to Irish-Boxing.com, Hearn admitted that “if I was a fighter, I would want to be from Belfast.”

“If you make it here you have really cracked it. If you’re from London or Liverpool there is a quite a few of you and there are a couple of World champions there, but if you are from Belfast you’re set, you’re made.”

“They will travel with you, they will cheer their hearts out for you at home.”

The 38 year old Matchroom boss urged Burnett to bring the title home and provide him an opportunity to make Belfast a regular pit stop.

Hearn described that “if Ryan Burnett wants to be successful he has to become World champion.”

“All you want as a promoter is to put on good fights in front of a passionate crowd.”

The Burnett-Haskins undercard features an Irish cruiserweight title fight between Luke Watkins and Ian Tims, Feargal McCrory v Paul Holt, James Tennyson v Ryan Doyle, Paul Hyland v Adam Dingsdale and appearances from Padraig McCrory, Paddy Gallagher, Sean Magee, and Tyrone McCullagh, as well as the return of Mike Perez.

Tickets for ‘Belfast Boy’ on June 10th at the SSE Odyssey Arena cost £30, £40, £60, £100, and £150 (VIP), and can be bought HERE.