Oleksandr Usyk: Hearn’s Ultimate Joshua Hedge
[AdSense-A]
By Iberedem “El Magico” Ekure
If the big 4 boxing governing bodies gave titles for best promoter, he would be holding one or two of the belts. Eddie Hearn is not quite undisputed champion in that realm but what he has done with Matchroom Boxing and the strategic moves he has made in the past few years are setting him up to be one of the greatest of all time. A businessman and investor so smart certainly knows all about protecting the highest margin assets, letting winners run and hedging one’s largest risk exposures. It shouldn’t surprise anyone then, how much promotion and enthusiasm has gone into announcing Oleksandr Usyk’s move from cruiserweight to heavyweight in recent months. Make no mistake about it, Hearn is hedging his risk exposures in the heavyweight division; and goodness it is quite the masterstroke of a hedge.
The heavyweight division is the most exciting it has been in a decade. Despite the questionable level of talent in the division, the drama and personalities involved have made for great entertainment. From a promoter’s perspective, this division is where the highest margins can be made: Profits from top heavyweights subsidize the promotion of fighters in the less-popular divisions. Eddie Hearn has the biggest draw in the division on his roster: Anthony Joshua.
Joshua on the books is a sure stream of future cash flows for Hearn’s business but for anyone who watched Joshua’s three fights since the victory over Klitschko (and Eddie Hearn did), it was clear he was losing a bit of his edge: He looked ordinary in the decision over Parker and Povetkin gave him trouble before the 7th round KO. This, however, was no real cause for concern given the quality of opponents Joshua would have to face to earn Eddie these future cash flows. Hearn would introduce Joshua in the United States and make him a household name within a few fights; untold riches accruing along the way. Tyson Fury back to his bruising best and Deontay Wilder’s growing popularity and ability to get by opponents purely on power and athleticism must have raised concerns in the mind of any serious businessman. If these anticipated cash flows were in any danger of not materializing, the prudent Eddie Hearn needed to put on a hedge and in September 2018, he did so by signing Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk is an entertaining winner and seeing the commercial success and support from the diaspora that fellow Ukrainian, Vasyl Lomachenko enjoys in Madison Square Garden, Hearn certainly envisioned the low probability scenario where his US heavyweight adventure flick could star Usyk in place of Joshua.
After the June debacle of Anthony Joshua losing to last-minute replacement opponent Andy Ruiz, JR., a prudent Hearn turbocharged his hedge: the Usyk promotion machine was engaged and the heavyweight media machine began to spend some of the ink reserved for the Joshua-Wilder-Fury trio on Usyk. Usyk is a fantastic fighter with heavyweight potential: 6’2 with a 78-inch reach and in my view could easily defeat any of the heavyweights outside of the big three and dark horse, Luis Ortiz. He stacks up well against Ortiz, would pose Wilder problems and have a tough time against Joshua or Fury. One or more of these fights will happen in the next two years and we will have a filled day analyzing strengths and weaknesses but taking it back to business: Eddie Hearn is still betting on his winner Anthony Joshua. A good investor let’s his winners run but knows when to take profits. A win in the rematch against Ruiz, JR. would steer the ship back in the direction of untold riches and glory. If that fails to materialize, however, Usyk is as good a hedge as one can find.
Eddie Hearn can sleep easier: Heads he wins, tails you lose.
[si-contact-form form=’2′]