Sonnen argues White-Hearn feud is outshining Fury vs. Joshua ahead of Cardiff clash

Chael Sonnen has argued that the bitter promotional feud between Dana White and Eddie Hearn is drawing more attention than the fight it surrounds, with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua set to finally share a ring on December 11 in Cardiff, Wales.

Speaking on his You’re Welcome podcast, Sonnen said the ongoing personal and professional clash between the two promoters is generating clicks, interview requests, and headlines at a rate the heavyweight contest itself cannot match — at least on the western side of the Atlantic.

“At least in North America, the much more clicks, the much more views, the much more requests for interviews is for the fight between Dana White and Eddie Hearn,” Sonnen said.

The dispute centres on White’s claimed role in the promotion of Fury vs. Joshua. Hearn has publicly insisted that White has no official involvement in the boxing match, despite White’s alliance with Saudi authority figure Turki Alalshikh, one of the key financiers behind the event. White has pushed back, maintaining he is promoting the fight in an official capacity regardless of what Hearn’s camp says.

Sonnen raised the possibility that Hearn may be engineering the conflict deliberately — using the feud as a media engine to drive attention toward Joshua and Fury — but acknowledged it hardly matters either way.

“Let’s say it’s not orchestrated. This is straight-up how Eddie feels and straight-up how Dana feels and there’s no greater plan. It’s still achieving the other goal,” Sonnen said.

Fury vs. Joshua has been one of British boxing’s most anticipated matchups for years. Both men have held world titles at heavyweight and faced a generation of elite opponents, yet the fight eluded promoters until now. Sonnen noted, however, that the bout does not carry the same weight for North American audiences, which may explain why White is so determined to insert himself into the narrative.

Sonnen also flagged the potential involvement of Netflix, suggesting that if the streaming platform were to publicly weigh in on the dispute, it would generate another wave of headlines on its own.

“Now they’re getting Netflix involved, and Netflix hasn’t quite taken the bait yet, but if they do come out and weigh in, that’s going to be headline news for a couple of days,” he said.

White’s precise role in the promotion remains unclear. Following a Zuffa Boxing event in London last weekend, he grew visibly frustrated when reporters pressed him to define his involvement, insisting he had already addressed the question. Sonnen credited Hearn with being the more straightforward of the two on the specifics, while acknowledging he cannot fully pin down what White’s angle is.