Barry Hearn was once questioned about an attempted murder of Frank Warren – now his son has joined forces with the promoter.
This boxing rivalry dates back more than 50 years, when the two began holding competitions in England.
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Hearn Sr. and Warren also campaigned together with the iconic but equally controversial American Don King.
But Warren was left fighting for his life after he was shot outside the Broadway Theatre in Barking following a gig in 1989.
The attacker – who covered himself with a balaclava – was never caught despite a police investigation.
Officials visited Hearn Sr. with his younger son, Eddie, and overheard this now infamous conversation.
Eddie told SunSport: “I remember the buzzer rang at the gate and I saw the police standing there and they came in and asked, ‘Where have you been during this time? Do you know anyone who dislikes Frank Warren?’
“And my dad said, ‘Leave Mother Teresa out, but everything else is possible.’ It was a famous line.
“I think they’ve had a rivalry going on for a number of years, but he’s always said to me, ‘You’ll like Frank. You’ll like his company.’
“But we never got into business. It probably feels a little weird to him to see him doing business with Frank now.”
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Frank Warren was shot in 1989
It hurt so much! It made me jump! It was a surreal moment, not something you were expecting.
I was getting out of my car in Barking, Colin McMillan was fighting there. I was getting out of the car and I heard a bang. I thought it was the car backfiring.
I looked around and there was someone standing there holding a gun.
At first I thought it was a joke, I was looking around and thinking, ‘What is all this?’
I saw it move a little, then there was a clicking sound and I felt another explosion and I felt a pain in my side.
“What happened was, it went into my chest and I was standing at an angle and thankfully it went through my lung – and I lost half a lung – and came out.
A friend of mine, a barrister called John Buttress, asked, ‘What are you doing?’ and he jumped on it.
Before I knew it, I suddenly felt a gurgling sound in my throat and apparently blood from my lungs had rushed into my throat.
I fought Tyson Fury when he was just 17 and my incredible prediction for the Gypsy King has come trueAnd then I caught my breath, I got down on one knee, and then I remember my late Uncle Bob and my brother Robert came out.
They were standing near me, helping me and saying, ‘Call the doctor, call the doctor.’
We have doctors at every show and the Boxing Board of Control doctor came in. I remember he said, ‘Do you have a handkerchief?’
I said, ‘Yes,’ and he said, ‘Wait.’
All the ambulances were on strike at that time, so the next minute they put me in a police van.
They turned on the curbs and everything, like a 16-point.
And they took me to the hospital and that was it.
*Warren was speaking talkSPORT,
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“But I also think he’s enjoying the benefits he’s bringing to our business, our sport and our fighters.”
Warren survived the assassination attempt, as the 9 mm bullet from the Luger pistol missed his heart by just an inch.
He lost half a lung and parts of his ribs and was unable to promote himself for over a year – forcing him to close his business.
Boxer Terry Marsh – who had been involved in a legal dispute with Warren – was arrested and charged with attempted murder of his former promoter.
But Marsh was later acquitted.
Warren estimates he lost £14million as a result of the incident but in the following years he made a sensational fight to get his career back on track.
By the 2010s, Hearn Sr. handed over the reins of Matchroom’s boxing operations to Eddie and suddenly Warren had a new rival.
The two sides feuded publicly in the following years, and this acrimonious relationship did not lead to some of boxing’s best bouts.
But that was until Turki Al-Shaikh, a powerful Saudi minister, came on the scene.
Alshikh’s cash injection brought together Hearn, Warren, their rival promotions and TV networks.
Maybe it was a reluctant handshake at first, but it really turned into a friendship, a partnership.
Eddie Hearn’s statement on Frank Warren
He also put his bid in for a series of bouts as part of a 5v5 boxing competition – which Warren swept.
Next up is Anthony Joshua – Hearn’s long-time goldendoodle – against Warren’s heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on September 21st.
So as the competition in the ring heats up, the relationships outside the ropes also improve.
Eddie said: “Certainly when it first happened it was actually done under the instruction of Turki Alalshikh who said, ‘Look, we have a huge opportunity here, don’t waste it.’
“And we looked at the opportunity for fighters and for our own businesses and thought, ‘Yeah, this is really something we should do.’
“And maybe at first we were hesitant to shake hands, but now it has turned into a friendship and partnership.
Read more at The Scottish Sun
“I am very close to George Warren, speaking to him almost every day about a variety of issues, not only on the Riyadh season but also on opportunities for both of our businesses.
“We are now planning the next 5v5 – it’s going to be a huge event – and we are enjoying the business. Enjoying the new dynamics.”
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