Misfits Boxing says it is in advanced negotiations with Eddie Hearn for a boxing match against UFC CEO Dana White, and the money on the table has changed shape. Misfits co-founder Kalle Sauerland told IFLTV that the original pitch, a $20 million winner-take-all, has been swapped for a $10 million straight offer. He also said White has the proposal in writing.
Sauerland, who runs Misfits with his brother Nisse, was careful to stop short of announcing a done deal. “I’m not gonna lean out the boat because I’ve not totally tied it up with Eddie but we’re close with Eddie and Dana has had it in writing,” he said. On the Matchroom boss specifically, he added that “we’re not far off, I think he’d confirm that if you ask him on the terms.”
The Sun ran the story as Hearn agreeing terms. Read the actual quotes and every word of confidence comes from the guy making the offer, which is how promoters talk about every fight they’d like to exist.
Sauerland also floated a date, sort of. “We’ll be rolling with Eddie vs. Dana the night after (Fury vs. Joshua) at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium,” he said, and Bloody Elbow noted he was joking when he said it. Nobody has announced a venue, a date or a weight.
How two promoters got here
The feud dates to the start of the year, when White moved into boxing and he and Hearn started trading shots through the media more or less on a loop. That back-and-forth reached the point where White said he’d get in the ring with Hearn if it came to that. Neither man has real experience in the ring, and Bloody Elbow pointed to a sizable age gap between them. White is 57.
White’s latest reaction suggests the enthusiasm has cooled. Asked about the Misfits offer, he rolled his eyes and said Sauerland was fishing for a reaction. That’s a long way from the guy who put the idea out there in the first place. Bloody Elbow suggested White may have worked out what a loss in the ring could do to his standing as a promoter, which is a fair read. It’s hard to sell your fighters as killers the week after you got outpointed by the Matchroom guy.
So the status, as of Wednesday: one side says it’s close, the other side says the offer is a stunt, and the man holding the checkbook already cut the purse structure once.
My take. Count the yeses. Sauerland says Hearn is close, Hearn hasn’t been quoted saying so in any of this coverage, and White is visibly not interested. That’s one confirmed participant, and he’s the promoter. Also look at the money moving the wrong way. When an offer drops from $20 million to $10 million before anybody signs, that’s the bidder admitting the first number was a headline. If a book ever hangs a line on this thing, I’ll be betting the field on “never happens,” and I’ll lay a lot of juice to do it.
