Eddie Hearn has admitted that it "would have been great" to get a chance to work with Tyson Fury before the heavyweight's retirement.
The Matchroom Boxing boss turned down the opportunity to work with Fury after he had been stripped of his belts following a famous win over Wladimir Klitschko and ballooned to over 400lb. After meeting with the heavyweight at his worst, Hearn believed that Fury would never box again, let alone at the world level.
But within months of his comeback, Fury had taken on Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles, going the distance and drawing with the unbeaten American in a fight that many felt he won. After a few more bouts, Fury took the world title from his rival, cementing his place as one of the greats of his era.
And despite insisting that he has no regrets, Hearn does admit that he would have liked to work with a top heavyweight like Fury. His flagship UK project has been the building of Anthony Joshua's career, and signing Fury could have led to a fight between the pair.
"I don't really have any regrets," Hearn told Joe.co.uk. "I get asked the question 'if you could sign anyone' and everyone knows that I had meetings with Tyson Fury a few years ago to sign and we ended up not doing anything.
"So I guess being a part of that story would have been great, but any regrets? Not really. I ruffle feathers and some people say I shouldn't ruffle feathers but it's very boring if you're not ruffling feathers.
"I think when we look back one day when we're all old and dribbling, they might be some of the things that make us laugh. All the memes, I think you should never take yourself too seriously."
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Hearn previously told of how he met with Fury in Monaco, with the plan having been for the Brit to take a few tune-up fights. But when his comeback actually took place, Fury took the fast-track to facing Wilder, and ended up winning big in the long run.
"With Tyson, I flew him out to Monaco and he was about 26-stone," Hearn said on the Boxing Social podcast. "He was sweating, and I just thought to myself 'you ain't ever fighting again'.
"So the plan was to have two easy fights, by that we meant the likes of Sefer Seferi which he did, but then have a step-up and fight like Manuel Charr. I was just thinking... If I had known that he would fight Sefer Seferi, someone else and then Deontay Wilder I would have been all over it."
