By Nick Martinez
Eddie Hearn didn’t hesitate to let his thoughts be known regarding the upcoming Keith Thurman vs. Tim Tszyu PPV fight. It’s going to be the first PPV on Amazon Prive Video, but Hearn isn’t as excited as many others seem to be.
When asked about the event, Hearn had this to say, “I think it’s a good night of boxing. I think it’s a botched job where it’s like, let’s throw a lot of stuff together. The main event for me is a very weak PPV main event. I find Keith Thurman a very interesting sort of character. He disappeared for two years, and he came to the press conference. As a PPV, historically, we know those types of PPVs don’t sell, and if it’s a good card, it doesn’t really matter because you have to grab the attention with a great headline, whether that’s Tank against Ryan Garcia, whether that’s Canelo against X.”
Eddie Hearn Is Speaking What Many Are Thinking
Hearn isn’t the only person who’s a little disappointed with the main event. There were heavy talks early on that we’d be seeing Gervonta “Tank” Davis taking on Frank Martin for the first Amazon Prime Video PPV. That apparently took a random turn, as Thurman vs. Tszyu was announced instead. Thurman in particular was somebody that people weren’t sure about. He has one singular fight in the last five years, that coming in 2022 with a unanimous decision victory against Mario Barrios. His only other fight came in 2019 against Manny Pacquaio, which was a loss. The 35-yearr-old boxer used to be a welterweight champion, though it’s been some time since he’s been at the top. To make it even less enticing, the fight isn’t for a world title despite Tszyu being a middleweight champion.
We also got to hear Hearn briefly talk about Rolly Romero being the co-main event against Isaac Cruz. That fight being a title fight. Hearn said, “Pitbull, I think he’s a really entertaining fighter. He’s a little bit limited at the elite level. I think he will steamroll through Rolly, and he will stop him. You saw Rolly at the press conference. The guy looked like he didn’t even want to be there, but he’s obviously getting a few quid. Good luck to him. That’s not a fight that is going to drive PPV sales.” By Pitbull, Hearn means Cruz, who’s fighting Romero. Clearly, he didn’t believe that either of the main event fights have what it takes to drive in strong PPV sales for Amazon.
