As fight fans know, British promoter Eddie Hearn has done a huge $1 billion deal with DAZN, with the future looking bright in terms of plenty of big fights set to be streamed via the platform. Hearn made no secret of the fact that he wants to build and build his stable of fighters – to become “the strongest in the world” – and he has been attempting to sign up big names such as Deontay Wilder, Mikey Garcia and others.
One of the others was Adrien Broner, I write was, because AB has flat-out turned Hearn’s recent three-fight offer down. What may well seem like a more than generous offer to some was instantly declined by Broner, who (in borrowing, or flat-out stealing a line from his buddy Floyd Mayweather) referred to it as a “slave deal.”
The offer, of $6.75 million for three fights, can in no way be realistically called a “slave deal,” certainly not when we consider how this big-money offer was placed in front of a fighter who has won just one of his last three bouts.
Here’s the offer from Hearn broken down:
“I would be very interested to offer Adrien a 3 fight promotional agreement as follows:
Fight 1 – Sept 2018 – Purse $2,000,000
Fight 2 – March 2019 – Purse $2,250,000
Fight 3 – September 2019 – Purse $2,500,000
This will give AB security and also a concrete schedule to work from. 3 fights in twelve months!”
Again, for a fighter who has lost his biggest career fights – to Marcos Maidana, Shawn Porter and Mikey Garcia – and who is coming off not a win but a draw (with Jessie Vargas), this seems like a decent enough offer. Broner, in the opinion of more than a few fight fans, has peaked and is slowly heading towards the end of his time as a marquee fighter.
But “The Problem,” a man and a fighter who, in the opinion of many, has a way higher opinion of himself and of his talents than he should have, has balked:
“I’m sorry Eddie Hearn you a good guy and all but you tried to give me a worst (sic) deal than @rocnation offered me,” Broner wrote on social media before adding the “slave deal” reference.
Keep in mind how Broner, 33-3-1(24) collected a reported $1 million for the Vargas fight. With the cash Hearn was offering and with it the opportunity to fight and be seen by a streaming audience of potentially many millions of fans, Broner should perhaps have been less hasty here. It remains to be seen if Hearn will up his offer any or move on and look to snare other talent.