The move has left Eddie Hearn stunned as well.

“I'm pretty devastated. It's not often you get shocked,” Hearn somberly told IFL from his hotel room immediately after the news was revealed.

"I blame myself because I just forgot it was boxing. I just felt that the loyalty that we've shown would never, ever put us in this position. I just felt that I never really needed to push Conor Benn to sign a new contract, previously, and probably could have got him to sign a new contract. But like I said, I blame myself.

"I made a mistake because I misjudged the character. I'm not going to hang him out to dry on it. He will say, 'It was a big offer, right?' But you know, when I received the email from his lawyer, I texted him and said, 'I think we should have a call. I think for everything I've done for you, I think I deserve a call.' And he said, 'No.' I can't believe it.

"I just don't know what to say other than I just felt that everything that we gave him, the loyalty, support, would be enough to talk it through, or just get close to a number. But it wasn't. It wasn't really the interest. So very surprising, very painful. It's another moment in life you live and learn from.”

Benn signed a one-fight, eight-figure deal and will fight no later than May 31, according to Sports Illustrated and DAZN reporter Chris Mannix.

Hearn said he would have gotten "quite close" to the deal Benn signed, if given the chance. After the Zuffa deal was announced, Benn said he would “love Eddie to continue to be part of my team and for our partnership to evolve in this new chapter.” Hearn was unsure if that could be the case.

"Who knows what the agreement is," said Hearn. "I had some very choice words for his manager, Keith Connolly. Conor is, sometimes you live in that world where you lose your head a little bit. You kind of lose an understanding of reality, what is right and wrong. I just feel that the way that it was done was very, very wrong ... some people, loyalty really matters and other people, maybe not so.

"I really lost a lot of my soul during that two-year period [while Benn was dealing with a PED saga]. It was pretty brutal,” said Hearn. "It feels a little bit of a wasted few years. I gave a lot. You know how hard I fought, when no-one believed or backed him, I did. I backed him, never gave in. When he was done, out, I loaned him hundreds of thousands of pounds. Yeah, on we go.

"I blame myself. I got the character wrong. I took the loyalty for granted because of what I did, and I shouldn't have done that. I've made that mistake before in boxing, but just didn't expect it from Conor Benn. So maybe he's not quite the person I thought he was. I don't know. Look, maybe we'll talk in the future, but what can I say?

“At the moment, I'm just digesting it. Yeah, it's a little bit numb. But right now, there is a lot I can say, but we'll keep it classy.”

Benn (24-1, 14 KOs) last fought in November and beat Chris Eubank Jr. in a rematch following a loss against Eubank in the Fight of the Year on April 26. The fights against Eubank took place at middleweight, though Benn plans to continue his career back down at welterweight.

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.