Hotel Prices and Not Extra Security an Issue for Eddie Hearn

Eddie Hearn says he had to invest extra in hotels and not security for Katie Taylor fight week.

Media reports this week suggested Matchroom had gone to extra lengths with regard to security surrounding the Taylor versus Chantelle Cameron topped 3Arena event this coming Saturday.

However, Hearn claims Matchroom’s security for the first boxing event to come to the Dublin Dockland’s arena since the Return of the Mack card in 2014 compares similarly to the majority of shows they do across the UK and America.

Indeed, he points out that security surrounding their more recent show, Canelo Alvarez’s homecoming bout in Mexico were three times that of Dublin.

However, it seems Mexican hotel prices were much cheaper.

“I’ve seen some rubbish being written,” Hearn told media in Dublin today. “Of course, I think everybody in this country wants to make sure that the event goes ahead smoothly. The eyes of the world are on this fight and on Dublin.

“I saw someone saying we’re ‘flying all of these [security guards].’ Of course, we have security. We have security wherever we go! We’ve just been to Guadalajara and we had three times the security in Guadalajara that we’ll have in Dublin this week.”

Hearn did suggest there were some concessions with regard to the fight week events in a bid to ensure ‘everyone feels comfortable’.

“The only thing that’s been a bit different are that the public events are being capped a little bit. We would have liked to have pushed that out more. For example, we’ve had 5,000 ticket requests for the weigh-in and, at the moment, we’re only allowed 300 people. Those talks are ongoing to make sure everyone is comfortable.

“Don’t forget it’s the first one back and it’s the biggest one you’ve had since Bernard Dunne, maybe bigger than that. So, people just want to get it right.

“But no, there hasn’t been an excessive spend on security. ”

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He assured security, the questions around it and the reason it’s a topic for discussion wouldn’t put him off coming back to Dublin and said his only issue was with the price of accommodation.

“The only thing that’s off-putting is the hotel prices. F*ck me. Excuse my language — but we’ve never spent so much on hotels. And I’m talking about New York, Vegas, London Madrid, Milan… It’s unbelievable. But we’re here.”

Photo Credit Mark Robinson Matchroom.