‘I’m Eddie Hearn’s dad – there’s one thing I always say to him which makes him get upset’

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Barry Hearn has explained that his son Eddie always gets frustrated with him when he uses a certain phrase to describe their relationship, and it’s not something that many fathers will say

Barry Hearn has admitted that his son, Eddie Hearn, always gets upset with him when he calls him his “project”.

While the Matchroom founder says that he and his business-savvy son have a fabulous relationship, the 76-year-old has always considered Eddie to be his legacy and replacement for when he’s not around – even explaining that he believes he’s done a fantastic job of replicating his personality in his offspring. Speaking on Thursday’s instalment of his Barry Hearn Show on Spotify, the promoter explained: “Eddie always gets upset with me when I describe him as ‘my project’.

“He says, ‘dad, I’m your son’. I say, ‘yes but you’ve got to understand the bigger picture. You’ve always been my project’. And part of that project is to replace me when I’m not here, which I think I’ve done a bloody good job on because he does sound like me.

“He also steals most of my quotes, whether he’s writing a book or whether he’s doing a podcast. I tell him, ‘you don’t quote Voltaire. I quote Voltaire’!”

Elsewhere, Hearn Snr also explained how he wouldn’t change his relationship with his son for the world, despite certain professionals having a dig at how they get along. He continued: “But the thing is that we have a fabulous father-son relationship.

“We take the mick out of everyone. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I remember Chris Eubank saying to me, ‘Bazza, I don’t like the way Edward speaks to you’. And I go, ‘look. We’re friends. And he speaks to me like a friend would speak to me. And it’s not disrespectful’.

“It’s just the type of relationship we have and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love him to death, but I also disagree with him quite a lot, and we don’t hold back. We’re a very competitive family. I retired 17 years ago. I stopped taking the salary seventeen years ago because I don’t need the money and I don’t live that type of life.

“But at the same time, I can’t retire from something that’s been my life. And outside of my family, nothing’s more important to me than kids getting their chance, especially, and I’m biased, kids perhaps with the background I had. house. My dad was a bus driver. My mum was a charlady.

“We didn’t have any money but we were still happy. But then when you get into the business element, you get this competitive streak where you want to be number one and be the best. And I can’t walk away from that.

“I will drive Eddie mad because I’ll pester him and say, ‘why are we doing this? Why don’t we do that?’ And a lot of the times, he’ll turn around and say, ‘dad, different age now. You’re yesterday. I’m tomorrow. Listen to me’.”

Hearn Snr founded Matchroom Sport in 1982, capitalising on snooker’s golden era when stars like Steve Davis were reigning supreme. However, he moved into boxing five years later, fronting Frank Bruno’s heavyweight bout with Joe Bugner in his first promotion.

Hearn has worked with a number of leading names in the industry in the years since, from Eubank and Nigel Benn to Lennox Lewis. However, in 2021, after almost four decades of work, Hearn Snr gave the lead to his son.