When a picture of Rio Ferdinand on the cover of Men’s Health flashed up on Eddie Hearn’s phone, the boxing promoter’s heart sank. Ferdinand looked sleek, muscular and in the shape of his life.
‘Fucking hell, man,’ the 46-year-old texted Ferdinand. ‘I’ve got to follow you!’
Hearn smiles at the memory. ‘But at the same time, I think, “I’m not an athlete.” I look at Rio, who’s in much better shape than me – not, like, a million times – and I think, “Yeah, but he spent his whole life training, playing football for Manchester United, doing all this strength and conditioning,”’ Hearn adds. ‘I’m just on the blag, at press conferences, eating out every night. That’s why I say it’s one of my biggest achievements, being able to get in decent shape. I’m not an athlete, I’m not a sportsman. I’m just a businessman and an entrepreneur who’s got a lot on his plate. I’ve never been able to crack it and I’m not saying I’ve cracked it. But I look alright. I feel pretty good.’
To say Hearn has a lot on his plate is something of an understatement. The subject of a smash Netflix documentary and CEO of Matchroom Sport, Hearn is one of the main drivers in the resurgence of British boxing. Heir to his father Barry’s empire, he’s a man on a mission. Arriving just after 9am for his Men’s Health shoot, Hearn briefly steps out of his car only to tell the awaiting crew, ‘I’ll be three minutes – I’m on an important call,’ before disappearing back into his all-black Defender.
In the middle of the previous night, the phone had rung and it was boxing powerbrokers in Las Vegas. A couple of hours and several phone calls later, a deal had been struck. Four hours after that, Hearn was at Matchroom’s HQ in Essex for the shoot, but that doesn’t mean the work stopped. There’s always something else; another deal to broker, fight to organise or goal to aim for. And Hearn approaches his fitness as he does his business.
‘I always feel like there’s more and I never quite feel satisfied with what we’ve done,’ Hearn says. ‘But this is probably the proudest thing that I’ve done for myself, even though I’ve got a long way to go.’
‘I truly believe that if I hadn’t turned it around, I would probably have had a heart attack by now’
As proof, Hearn shares a before photo of himself looking pale and a bit bloated.
‘When I look at that picture, I actually think that’s a dead man walking, and with my family history as well,’ he says, referencing family members who passed away in their forties. ‘I truly believe that if I hadn’t turned it around, I would probably have had a heart attack by now. Because it was just going one way… Stress, alcohol, lack of training. But I just feel like it’s such a big – I don’t know what word you want to use – flex, or whatever, to be in your late forties or going into your fifties in much better shape than you were in your teens or your twenties or your thirties; looking better than you’ve ever looked before.’
Hearn was overweight growing up and it’s something he’s been conscious of since he was in his mid-teens. Even now, at the shoot, he nervously fidgets and grabs the skin around his sides.
David Venni
Eddie on the MH cover back in January 2024
When he thinks back to his first cover with Men’s Health in 2024, he recalls, ‘They said to me, “What is it that’s important to you?” And I’m like, “I just want to wake up in the morning in my pants and look in the mirror and go, “Fucking hell, you’re in good nick.” And they’re like, “Do you think that’s a bit of ego?” “No, I’m just being honest.” That makes me feel good. If I put on a suit and I feel like I look good, automatically I’m winning to start the day. I think most people, if they’re honest, probably feel the same way.’
This time, the journey towards Eddie 2.0 went far beyond training, leaning into the holistic elements of performance and longevity such as recovery, nutrition and hydration. It was not long before he realised he had been undereating for the gym, but then he’d binge or go out for dinner and overcompensate. Consistency, he has found, has been key.
But it’s not easy to be consistent when you are taking more than 100 flights a year, staying in dozens of hotels, constantly having to go to meetings over lunch or dinner. Temptation lurks on every menu and, although there were no physical signs Hearn was deteriorating, there were warnings.
‘Your cholesterol’s high, your blood sugar’s high, your fatty liver’s high from alcohol, your stress is through the roof, you’re not sleeping,’ Hearn reels off his health concerns in quick order. ‘What other problems do you need than all of that mixed in together, with the hereditary problems as well?’
Hearn talking about stress makes for an interesting case study. He’s charismatic and happily owns just about any room he walks into; his affable nature making him both disarming and engaging at the same time. But while he may not show outward signs of stress, he recognises it as a constant presence. Just being ringside puts his body through enough strain to register on his Whoop as if he’s done a workout.
‘It’s undoubtedly the worst business in the world for that,’ Hearn says of boxing.
‘And it’s never-ending. For 15 years I battled with [rival promoter] Frank Warren and it’s now the propaganda of the YouTube culture, the cesspit of Twitter, all these other things you’re battling against. Also, you’re against someone who’s trying to take you down or stop you in your tracks or turn people against you or lie about you. And then what do you do? You decide to go to America and crack it over there. So then you’re bringing in [US promoters] Oscar De La Hoya, Leonard Ellerbe, Bob Arum, Lou DiBella. You’ve got this whole new war front attacking you. Then you wake up and a couple of days ago, it’s Dana White. It’s like, fucking hell!’
The Re-Education of Eddie
Hearn’s father, Barry, is nearly 78. He’s suffered three heart attacks, including one around the age Eddie is now – a fact that’s not lost on his son. The younger Hearn reckons the training his dad put in to run the 18 marathons he completed throughout his life is what’s given him his longevity.
Watching his dad pound the pavement so regularly inspired Hearn to follow in his footsteps. Running, he found, came naturally to him; it was the weights he found challenging. But observing how his father is ageing makes him want to double down on strength training.
‘Seeing him get older, I can see him deteriorating physically,’ Hearn explains. ‘He’s still full of life, but everyone says you’ve got to build muscle, it’s going to help you go into those fifties, sixties and seventies in a much better way.’
Yet, Hearn’s early attempts to build muscle were ‘soul destroying’.
‘You’re in these gyms where people are lifting, but I’m so weak. I was so weak,’ Hearn sighs. ‘And, again, this isn’t something that is going to change after three weeks or three months. You have to actually stay with this process.’
Does he enjoy lifting?
‘That’s a good question,’ he smiles. ‘I don’t enjoy it like the running, but I really enjoy seeing my body change. I like the feeling of when I finish a good, strong weights workout and I feel better within myself. My arms have doubled in size over the past couple of years and that’s not hard because they were non-existent, but I’m starting to see a decent change to my body.’
Among the changes, Hearn’s learned to embrace a zone 2 run rather than constantly trying to better his 5K and 10K times. He loved the buzz of running hard, but he’d crash later in the day. That type of pushing was a borderline addiction and he’s found it hard to substitute in low-intensity cardio. He finds it boring but understands its purpose for the greater good. Such runs also allow him to ease pressure on hips that need work, as well as the recurring calf and hamstring niggles.
Train like Eddie: Hearn’s PT, Kai Peacock, has created a plan exclusively for members of MH SQUAD. Existing members can access the training plan in full via the MH app.
West Coast rap was his music of choice as a teenager and that’s what he tunes into when he runs, listening to the likes of Ice-T, Ice Cube, Tupac, Warren G, Nate Dogg and Eazy-E. Nowadays, he has no downtime, so there are no pastimes. He doesn’t have four hours for a round of golf beyond a couple of times a year and also struggles to concentrate for that long with so much else going on. But there is something he manages to do on the move.
‘I’ve got quite into the Bible and scriptures, so I like listening to audiobooks, such as the book of Matthew, the book of Romans,’ he says. ‘But not when I’m running. It doesn’t do anything for me at all.’
To help keep him consistent, Hearn has a nutritionist, Lee Rickards, who works closely with his coach, Kai Peacock, and they combine to make sure the promoter has what he needs for fuel and training as Hearn makes his way through the matrix of time zones. They scope out hotel facilities and sometimes even phone ahead to discuss dietary options.
Eating out still represents a challenge. At a recent dinner in New York, Hearn asked for a fillet steak, broccoli and asparagus. He even enquired how the steak would be prepared.
‘And I just thought to myself, “Fuck me, this is a standard night out for me,”’ he grins. ‘But you imagine the shit that you’re eating [when you go] out. And don’t get me wrong, it tastes unbelievable. But I was eating out three, four times a week because I’m on the road and it’s just what you do.’
He’s started looking for health food shops, declines more dining invitations than he used to and has stopped drinking alcohol. It was how it made him feel the next day, even only having a couple, that saw him call it a day. He says there are two further areas that require attention.
Mobility is one; a physio once told him he had the body of a 70-year-old. ‘I was like, “Fuck me,”’ Hearn says, exasperated.
Another significant issue is sleep. It hardly comes as a surprise that Hearn sleeps with his phones by his bedside. ‘I’ve got a lot better,’ he says. ‘But I’ll lie there to go to sleep and if I’m not asleep within 20 minutes, I’m picking up my phone again. It’s a disaster. And if I wake up in the night and I go to the toilet and I come back to bed and I can’t sleep, I pick up my phone again. Unfortunately, I run a business where I’m dealing with Australia, East Coast, West Coast, UK, Saudi Arabia… Whatever time I pick up my phone, one o’clock in the morning, four o’clock in the morning, six o’clock in the morning, there’ll be people messaging non-stop.’
The non-stop nature of his work is best revealed in the Netflix documentary Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen, which follows Hearn, his dad and the inner workings of their empire. During one episode, he is ready to wind down after a full day when he’s summoned to Claridge’s by Saudi boxing financier Turki Alalshikh.
‘That’s life,’ Hearn exclaims. ‘I went to go to sleep last night at about half 12 and the Saudis are in Las Vegas. Ten minutes in, without being able to sleep, I just thought I’d look at my phone. Four missed calls from Turki Alalshikh and Dr Rakan [AlHarthy], his right-hand man. Texts: “Please call us ASAP.”’
Hearn knew a phone call would take 20 to 30 minutes, and would likely result in him having to take urgent action.
‘If I don’t [return the call] and say, “Fuck it, I’ll speak to you in the morning,” I will lay there and my mind will go, “What do they want? It could be about AJ [Anthony Joshua]. It could be about Conor Benn, but I need to know.” So I call him. Then it’s quarter to two in the morning and I’m fucking buzzing because there’s a lot of money on the line and we’ve just done a big deal.
‘Laying there just pumped, it’s a disaster,’ he shrugs. ‘Unless you just turn your phone off. That’s what everyone says, “Just turn your phone off, they’ll still be there in the morning.” It’s like, “Yeah, but the fucking deal might not be.”’
Gloves Come Off
On the morning of our cover shoot, the news broke that Conor Benn – who’d been with Hearn since his professional debut in 2016 – had left Hearn’s Matchroom for Zuffa Boxing, the new player in boxing promotion fronted by none other than Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) head honcho Dana White. For Hearn, who had stood side by side with Benn for two years as the fighter fought to clear his name after failing two tests for performance-enhancing drugs, this must’ve come as a shock. (Benn was eventually cleared by the National Anti-Doping Panel, after the panel declared it was ‘not comfortably satisfied’ that a doping offence had been proven.)
‘I was disappointed there was no contact from Conor – who I speak to and text regularly. In all honesty, my first reaction was, “You dogs.”’ Hearn says he took loyalty for granted but now believes it did not exist in their relationship. ‘I just expected, after everything I did for him, that he would show us some respect.’ A short time later, Benn posted a statement thanking Hearn and Matchroom for ‘everything’ they had done for him.
But that story leads into a far bigger narrative. And while Hearn has crossed swords with all of boxing’s big promoters, it’s fair to say he’s not faced a force like the TKO Group before, owners not just of Zuffa Boxing, but also World Wrestling Entertainment and UFC.
White is heading up the Zuffa charge, putting him firmly in Hearn’s crosshairs. ‘Dana White is a serious rival,’ he admits.
‘He is a great promoter and TKO is a very powerful business, but he just doesn’t have my magic when it comes to boxing. I love it and live and breathe it every single day and the passion I have is on another level. I’m looking forward to the challenge.’
After all, Hearn is well accustomed to a challenge – he faces them every day, in person and online. Within the online boxing community rife with trolls, it doesn’t take much for a man in his forties to be labelled as having a midlife crisis. Hearn’s heard it all and he smiles at the sentiment.
‘I think it’s probably right,’ he says, adding the caveat, ‘I think it’s a good thing, don’t you? A midlife crisis for me is actually more of a wake-up call to what you are and where you are in your life and what’s happening. I actually love it when people say, “Eddie Hearn’s definitely having a midlife crisis. Look, he’s wearing a tracksuit and he’s going to the gym every day.” Well, what’s the alternative? I just get fat, bald and die? A midlife crisis doesn’t mean to me my life’s breaking down and I’m losing the plot. I’m actually going, “Fuck me. I’m in my mid-forties. I need to get on this.”’
In fact, Hearn says he doesn’t see himself as a 46-year-old. His daughters, aged 16 and 13, regularly remind him of exactly how old he is, however, and even admonish him for his taste in clothing.
‘Oh, Dad. Oh, ick. Ick,’ they say.
‘I’m like, “What?”’
‘Dad, you’re nearly 50. You can’t wear jeans.’
They are a reason, too, why the wake-up call to get his health in check speaks so loudly to him. For Hearn, health and fitness was – for years – dictated to him by the scales. He still weighs himself daily, but more so to keep himself accountable. Health was about keeping his weight down and little else. Now it’s about green recoveries, strength and trying to get a little more sleep.
He is aware of his limitations, though perhaps not yet fully aware of his potential.
For example, a flat ‘no’ is his response to the idea of doing a pairs Hyrox. But the truth is a little more nuanced. ‘You could put me on a treadmill and I could run a half marathon now,’ he smiles.
‘Get me in a Hyrox… Those burpees and those walking lunges, that is my kryptonite. I’d love to, but it’s just getting into it, isn’t it? It’s just sort of doing one session and then getting on. Like we said earlier, the consistency.’
He has his own goals, though, and is on his own journey. And his is now about longevity, being there for his loved ones, setting a positive example and, yes, looking good in a pair of boxers.
‘I feel like if you drum it into them enough, like when I was growing up… my dad was always drumming into me how important the company was and how important competing and winning was and at the time you’re thinking, “Oh Dad, leave it out.” But then actually, later in life, hopefully I want them to see me, what I’m doing in the gym and the decisions I’m making and actually for them to go, “It’s just what you do.” I think the phrase non negotiable is a really good phrase. For me, it’s a non-negotiable.
‘Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to do every session, but I do every session.
‘I’m not going to break Olympic records, but I will do the work consistently and when we talk about life and heart attacks and stuff, I could drop dead tomorrow.
But at the same time, I know that I’m giving myself the best opportunity. And if I got ill, I know that I would have been in the best shape I could possibly be in for myself and my position to fight that. And I look at that quite a lot. And listen, some things are uncontrollable. I could have a massive heart attack and die and everyone would go, “Fucking hell, Eddie worked on himself and fitness didn’t really help him out, did it?” And I’d think to myself, “Yeah, maybe it gave me another three, four or five years.” Who knows? But there’s no excuse. The one thing I’ll never take for granted now is my health.’
What is for certain is that this does not mean Hearn is about to slow down. Within a few days of speaking with Men’s Health, Hearn had hosted sell-out crowds in Nottingham and 5,000 miles away in Phoenix, Arizona – 10,000 fans at each with a stop in Los Angeles along the way – and announced a further five years with the streaming platform Dazn. Oh, and he started up the Matchroom Talent Agency management group, announcing his first signing – a get-back at White – with UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall putting pen to paper. In other words, settle in. Because this fight is only just getting started.
Photography: Hamish Brown
Grooming: Nat Schmitt using Drunk Elephant
Styling: Abena Ofei at Wizzo & Co
This interview features in the May 2026 issue of Men’s Health – out now. Subscribe to MH by hitting this link. 