In the early evening of Wednesday, 15 November, a handshake between two major promoters in London may have changed British boxing for the better, forever.
Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and Queensberry boss Frank Warren exchanged pleasantries in a tiny Wembley Arena dressing room as they came face-to-face for the very first time.
It was a surprisingly cordial meeting when you consider Hearn and Warren had traded verbal jabs – mainly through interviews with boxing YouTube channels – for several years.
“When you go 12 or 13 years without meeting or talking, you never think it’s coming but it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done in all honesty,” Hearn tells BBC Sport while sitting beside Warren.
They were brought together by the super-rich Saudi Arabia organisers to work on a card headlined by heavyweight Anthony Joshua in December.
“It was like ‘forget the past, we’ve got to do this for the good of our companies, for the good of our fighters, the sport’,” Hearn says.
The pair buried the hatchet on a rivalry which dates back to the 1980s, when Hearn’s father Barry was at the helm for Matchroom, and have since worked together on more high-profile cards in Saudi.
“It’s been quite enlightening for me. I’ve been around for a long, long time and it’s put a bit of a spring in my step. I’m enjoying it,” Warren adds.
Their budding bromance will be put to the test on Saturday, however, when the promoters pit fighters from their respective stable against each other in the unprecedented five-versus-five event in Riyadh.
From fierce rivals to enjoying a game of Jenga
Just six months ago, nobody would have predicted Hearn and Warren would be playing a friendly and bizarrely captivating game of Jenga at April’s news conference.
Their relationship now is far less fragile than the building block game.
“We’re quite likeminded in a lot of things which I’ve found quite refreshing. I’m enjoying Eddie’s company,” Warren says.
It is a rivalry steeped in history, ever since a young Hearn would listen to his father arguing with Warren on the phone.
Hearn Sr – who until then had focused largely on snooker – capitalised when Warren was shot by a masked assailant in November 1989 and wealthy backers pulled their funding from the promoter.
Boxers jumped ship to Matchroom but Warren’s resilience saw him fight back. He orchestrated the 1993 rematch between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank and two years later signed a lucrative contract with broadcasters Sky.
History appeared to repeat itself years later when a fresh-faced Hearn Jr burst on to the scene and disrupted the market.
Armed with prospects including Kell Brook and Tony Bellew – who would later become world champions – Hearn signed an exclusive deal with Sky Sports in 2012 which lasted nine years.
As Warren and Hearn went about their business separately, fans and fighters suffered.
Some crossover fights materialised, such as Kid Galahad crossing the divide to face Queensberry’s Josh Warrington in a featherweight world-title fight in 2019.
But the super-fight between Joshua and Tyson Fury and a light-heavyweight domestic dust-up between Joshua Buatsi and Anthony Yarde are just two examples of how promoter conflict prevented some high-profile match-ups from taking place.
That all changed when energy-rich Saudi Arabia entered the boxing foray.
Now there was enough space – and money – for both Hearn and Warren to sit at the top table as Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority, and Warren’s son, Queensberry CEO George Warren, insisted on co-operation.
“It took someone with a bit of sense to bang our heads together and say ‘guys we can do something really special’,” Hearn says.
He soon realised the Hearns and Warrens were not all that different.
“There are a lot of similarities with the families,” he adds. “We’re both from working class backgrounds. Frank started well doing in business, then his son George came through in a similar upbringing to me and we both made it in the sport.”
‘We’d be fools to mess this up’
Hearn has secured the services of Deontay Wilder for a heavyweight tussle with fellow big-hitter Zhilei Zhang in this weekend’s main event.
Queensberry’s Daniel Dubois will face heavyweight Filip Hrgovic in a world-title final eliminator and Liverpool featherweight Nick Ball will challenge WBA world champion Raymond Ford.
A middleweight contest between Hamzah Sheeraz and Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams and a cruiserweight bout between Willy Hutchinson and Craig Richards complete the line-up.
“We’d be fools to mess this up,” Warren says of the collaboration as Hearn nods along.
“Our respective fighters are getting tremendous opportunities, making lots of money.”
Despite plans for more joint promotions already being in motion, Hearn and Warren insist the rivalry is still as fierce as ever.
Warren will not even contemplate the thought of a Queensberry loss, comparing the event to a football derby.
“The respect won’t go away but it’s like the equivalent of the Scottish Old Firm game or Tottenham v Arsenal. That’s what it is and we want to win it,” he says.
Hearn will always find that competitive edge “whether it’s Jenga, table tennis or a kickabout in the garden”.
And if he is unable to secure bragging rights, he will have to answer to his father, who told him “make sure you win – you’ve got to win”, says Hearn.
