Amir Khan signing with Eddie Hearn is a smart move and Tyson Fury should follow his lead – Opinion

Hell has officially frozen over.

In modern times, boxing has become a sport notorious for U-turns as we now see 99% of ‘bad blood’, trash-talking, ‘beef’ fights finishing with hugs and a multitude of pleasantries.

However, Amir Khan’s decision to end his long-standing war of words with Eddie Hearn and sign with Matchroom is one of the most remarkable 180s we’ve seen in recent years.

FULL STORY: Amir Khan and Eddie Hearn's Matchroom sign three-fight deal

Hearn, having promoted Khan’s bitter rival Kell Brook since 2011, has often publicly called Khan out for a fight against his former welterweight champion. Khan has often dismissed him, resulting in several, very public, back and forth arguments, which ultimately produced no fight… until now.

When the Kell Brook fight was discussed previously, it was never the biggest fight out there for Amir Khan. In 2014 and 2015, Mayweather was floating around. In 2016 and 2017, Khan wanted Pacquiao. He got neither, but did end up facing Canelo Alvarez in a huge fight, which arguably eclipsed a potential Brook bout.

Now though, with Mayweather, Pacquiao and Canelo all out of the picture, Khan’s biggest potential fight IS Kell Brook. Brook may be moving up to 154lbs, but has repeatedly said he’d be willing to alter this plan for Khan.

For this sole reason, signing with Eddie Hearn is the right move for Amir Khan.

It’s the same situation as the one faced by Carl Frampton and Lee Selby, both of whom recently signed deals with Frank Warren. Both made smart moves in joining Warren’s stable as he has a solid crop of featherweights and is aiming to match them in big fights this year. The biggest fights out there for Frampton and Selby are with Frank Warren, so they signed with Frank Warren.

It seems simple: Sign with the promoter who can make the biggest fights out there for you.

However, Tyson Fury is seemingly leaning towards doing something different. It’s classic Fury, really.

Despite Eddie Hearn having publicly offered him a three-fight deal with potential bouts against Matchroom heavyweights Dillian Whyte, Tony Bellew and Anthony Joshua, Fury has instead professed his loyalty to Mick Hennessy in recent weeks, hinting he could also link up with Frank Warren.

Today, Warren declared he will be applying for the reinstatement of the 29-year-old’s BBBofC licence on his behalf. It seems only a matter of time before the pair announce some sort of official union.

Now, this is really not about the pathetic Hearn v Warren argument that is seemingly becoming increasingly prevalent in British boxing today. It’s just about seeing Fury secure the biggest fight out there for him - Joshua - and for boxing fans to be able to witness the biggest fight in British history.

If Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren can’t work together to make fights such as Ryan Burnett v Zolani Tete or Billy Joe Saunders v Daniel Jacobs, what makes anyone think they’ll be able to put together Anthony Joshua v Tyson Fury?

We’ve established it’s the biggest fight in British boxing history, which instantly means it’ll be difficult to make. Add to that the complications involved in the first ever dual TV deal between Sky and BT, as well as the cold war between Hearn and Warren, and you begin to realise that this fight is just not makeable… unless Fury signs with Matchroom.

I hope Fury will prove me wrong here; he’s certainly done that before. His loyalty to Mick Hennessy is admirable and I’d love to see a comeback with Frank Warren end in success. But I feel his recent decisions are just going to make what is already an incredibly difficult mission even more onerous.

If he signs with Matchroom, a straightforward path to Anthony Joshua will be right there in front of him. He should choose to walk it.