‘He had some character’ – Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn dropped dad Barry twice in sparring when he was younger

BARRY HEARN has revealed son Eddie dropped him twice during a “fight” in the ring.

Matchroom founder Barry believes tough love as a kid helped Eddie become the success he is today, including promoting ex-world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Barry Hearn and his son, Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie, sandwich the British boxer, who hopes to reach the top againGetty

And that included arranging a bout between the two of them because Hearn junior was getting a “little bit public school-ish”.

Barry was delighted with the resulting sparring as it showed his son “had some character about him”. 

He even reckons Eddie was only frustrated that they stopped the bout before the third round!

The father-and-son team have now built up a huge sporting empire.

And Hearn senior, 74, explained to the High Performance Podcast how sport came into his parenting techniques.

He said: “We would play cricket and I wouldn’t hold back. 

“I was quite a quick bowler when I was younger and I bowled flat out to him. It didn’t matter what age he was.

“If you want to be in this game, then find out.

“When I thought he was going a little bit public school-ish, I took him down to the gym and we had what was supposed to be a proper three-round fight.

“He dropped me twice in the second round and we never had the third round.

“But, I left happier than he did, because I found out something about my son that I hoped was inside him.

“He didn’t swallow it, he had some character about him and he took a couple, not many, and he handed it out. It was nice.

“He was just disappointed that he didn’t get the chance to go one extra round!”

Sports agents Barry and Eddie had ‘what was supposed to be a proper fight’ in the ring, aimed at building Hearn junior’s characterGetty – Contributor