1. Barry Maurice William Hearn was born on 19 June 1948 and is an English sports promoter who is founder and president of Matchroom Sport.
19 Facts About Barry Hearn
1. 2.
Until April 2021 Barry Hearn was the chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation and until July 2010, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
3.
Barry Hearn was born in 1948 on a council estate in Dagenham, Essex.
4.
Barry Hearn's family moved to the Debden estate in Loughton.
5.
Barry Hearn was educated at Buckhurst Hill County High School.
6.
Barry Hearn worked and then ran a series of small businesses as a teenager, from washing cars to picking fruit and vegetables.
7.
Barry Hearn formed a new firm, Kensal House Investments, and DHA became Deryck Healey International.
8.
Barry Hearn began promoting sporting events in 1974, working with amateur snooker players Geoff Foulds, father of Neal Foulds, and Vic Harris.
9.
Barry Hearn prospered from the snooker boom of the 1980s when he formed Matchroom with players Davis and Tony Meo.
10.
In December 2009 Barry Hearn was elected as the new WPBSA Chairman after Sir Rodney Walker failed to get re-elected and left his post.
11.
Barry Hearn moved into boxing in 1987, his first promotion being the Frank Bruno versus Joe Bugner bout at White Hart Lane in October 1987.
12.
Barry Hearn has since promoted many leading British and Irish boxers, including Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Lennox Lewis, Naseem Hamed, Steve Collins and Herbie Hide.
13.
Barry Hearn withdrew his boxers Herbie Hide and Steve Collins from the High Noon in Hong Kong event at the last minute, scheduled on 22 October 1994, when promoter John Daly could not come up with the purses.
14.
Barry Hearn is credited as appearing in the film One Night in Millstreet.
15.
Barry Hearn was until April 2021 the chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation, one of darts' two governing bodies, the sport having been split since the world's leading players left the British Darts Organisation in 1992.
16.
Barry Hearn made several attempts to buy out the rival body, which would reunify the game, but has been unsuccessful.
17.
Barry Hearn was the chairman of the football league club Leyton Orient from 1995 to 2014.
18.
Barry Hearn was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to sport.
19.
That year, Barry Hearn was inducted into the Professional Darts Corporation Hall of Fame.