Eddie Hearn has revealed that his Matchroom Boxing brand have developed a working relationship with video games company 2K, and that a boxing game series could be developed in the future.
During an interview with Talksport's Alex McCarthy, Hearn discussed how his long-standing love for the gaming world reached new levels when he found himself with very little to do while the COVID-19 pandemic halted his live fight promoting for several months.
The downtime led to Hearn contemplating a step into the boxing games industry to keep busy, and he has also since embarked on PR work with 2K, who produce annual sports releases for the NBA in basketball and WWE in professional wrestling.
“Being at home a lot around the kids, I found myself playing a lot of computer games," Hearn recalled. “My computer game experience probably goes back to Mario Kart, Nintendo 64s and Paperboy and that’s really going back a long way.
“When we spoke to 2K about Mafia, I told my kids and they were like, ‘Shut up.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, seriously.’ They know about the game and even for me to be associated with a game that is so popular with the younger generation.
“I went in and I was quite blown away to be honest with you. We’re looking at loads of projects on a computer game level and it was great to learn more about it.
“I didn’t think it would have the kind of effect on me that it did in terms of how good it is. It was fun and gives me a little bit of street cred with the younger generation.”
Boxing video games were very popular at the peak of Fight Night by Electronic Arts during the 2000s, which led to several instalments being released. However, the last version, Fight Night Champion, came out in 2011, and boxing games on major consoles such as Playstation and XBox have been at a premium ever since.
This led to McCarthy putting Hearn on the spot and asking if he planned on developing a boxing title with 2K any time soon.
He replied: “I know they wanna focus on Mafia, so I’m not gonna go too deep into that, but I’m on board with 2K.
“So if the call ever comes to do a boxing game, I’m all in.
“And I’ve learned a lot in this experience, I know we’re talking about Mafia but the demand for a boxing game is off the planet.
“I’ve got the relationship now with 2K, so no excuses. But right now I’m just enjoying Mafia.”