Team Norman Jr Details What Eddie Hearns’ ‘Over A Million’ Offer Really Looks Like

“The first offer made to Brian Norman was nicely over a million dollars. They felt it was not insulting but nowhere near. We made two more offers, a quarter of a million dollars every time to levels that Brian Norman will never see. We keep getting told that we are getting close, and we go back and make another offer and we’re told by his team that we actually aren’t that close. I start to think ‘Brian Norman, do you want this fight or are you clout chasing?’ Do you want to be great Brian Norman? Not being funny, who is Brian Norman? I know Brian Norman is a good fighter, but no one knows who Brian Norman is.

“We’re giving you a bucket load of money and an opportunity to unify the division against, in my opinion, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Now you say, ‘Boots’ is overrated. You say he is not the boogeyman; then why wouldn’t you take this bucket load of money and say you are the best welterweight in the world. Let’s just stop with the interviews online. We’ve gone back three times now with more money. With all due respect to Brian Norman, he shouldn’t be making this kind of money. We’re ready and prepared to pay him and then we get told we’re miles off. I don’t believe the bullsh*t of Brian Norman and the team. If you want the fight, you would’ve taken the fight.”

This is where things get interesting as Hearn, being the savvy promoter he is, took the opportunity right after promoting his upcoming show to speak on the offer’s specifics. Of course, social media took it and ran with it from folks that like to say things like “Eddie, make the offer,” “Norman is ducking Boots,” or “Norman not taking the fight is nasty work.” These are all things that come from various social media platforms with these so-called public negotiations. But in all reality, the only ones who REALLY know the specifics are Hearn, Top Rank, and Norman’s team.

FightsATW reached out to Adrian Clark, CEO of Fighters First Management, who represents Norman, to give some insight on what the 1.5 million offer really means for his fighter. Per Clark, this is what the breakdown looks like:

1,500,000 was the offer from Matchroom

  -300,000 for Top Rank to let Norman fight on DAZN (20%)

  -150,000 Management fees

  -150,000 Trainer fees

    -90,000 Sanctioning fees (3% of 1.5 million-each sanctioning body)

   810,000 remains before taxes

Before fans question the validity of the breakdown, you should know that Clark is a longtime boxing manager who’s published books to help fighters better understand the business. He recently released “Protect Yourself at All Times: Fighters First Second Edition” to keep educating fighters so they can be better equipped when it comes to their business. That said, a fight against Ennis in Philly on DAZN for $810,000 isn’t quite the same as the thought of turning down 1.5 million.

Norman has an opportunity to build his name up with this November 8 fight against potentially Derrieck Cuevas as the co-main to Keyshawn Davis. Earning an impressive win there gives him more leverage at the negotiation table instead of publicly being pinned to a corner by a promoter with the platform to do so.

So the question you have to ask yourself is, would you take $810,000 to fight one of the best fighters in the world in his home city and on his home network, or do you gamble on yourself for a short time, build up your profile and then come back to the table with more to offer? If you have a veteran team behind you, that’s proven, often, you go with what they feel is in your best interest. In the coming days, we should find out whether Norman is fighting Boots on DAZN for a chance at unifying the welterweight titles or going to Norfolk to build his profile against a solid opponent in Cuevas on ESPN.