Carl Froch has slammed Eddie Hearn for suggesting an exhibition boxing fight between Wayne Rooney and Jake Paul.
Hearn, who is a promoter for Anthony Joshua, floated the idea of a fight between Manchester United legend Rooney and American YouTuber turned boxer Paul in line with the rise of exhibition fights featuring non-professional boxers. But such a discussion would not be entertained by former super-middleweight world champion Froch, who lambasted the idea.
He told Casino Alpha: “I don't know why Eddie Hearn is talking about Jake Paul versus Wayne Rooney, Rooney's a football manager. I don't like the way some boxing promoters are going down the route of crossover fights because a former football player versus a YouTuber is a load of rubbish and I don't get it.
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“I don't get why a proper promoter is talking up a match between Wayne Rooney and Jake Paul. But does that tell us something about the state of boxing at the minute? Would Wayne Rooney v Jake Paul be the biggest fight that Eddie Hearn can make at the minute?
“Because I'm struggling to see what big fights he has in the works other than (Conor) Benn vs (Chris) Eubank and the problem with that one is, Benn's not licensed to fight in this country.”
Speaking on The Overlap in October, promoter Hearn revealed Birmingham City boss Rooney often asks for a bout after a big event. The Matchroom Sport CEO also suggested Rooney could sell out Old Trafford should he announce a switch to boxing.
“After every big fight with a YouTuber, sometimes (Wayne) Rooney will fire me a message,” Hearn said at the time.. “Listen, Wayne Rooney had a very limited amateur pedigree but could still fight. Wayne Rooney training… imagine the shape he’d get in against Jake Paul at Old Trafford."
Froch began his professional boxing career in 2002 and hung up his gloves in 2014. He missed the generation of influencers fighting and called for a return to more serious boxing, asking Hearn to push Joshua in that direction.
“It's all getting a bit silly to me because I grew up watching proper fighters fighting everybody. Eddie's put AJ forward for (Francis) Ngannou and he's putting AJ (Anthony Joshua) forward for anything at the minute.
“I don't know why he doesn't fight Wilder though, what happened to that fight? Let's talk more about AJ-Wilder because chucking him in with Ngannou makes no sense to me at all.”
