Frank Smith: "Barry Hearn has been a huge inspiration to me"

As CEO of Matchroom Boxing, Frank Smith spends most of his life zigzagging across the globe alongside former Square Mile cover Eddie Hearn. 

(You can read Hearn's exclusive interview with Square Mile here.) 

Naturally, lockdown has changed Smith's working routine somewhat.

Hotels have been swapped for home comforts, and stadium fights replaced with evenings in front of the TV. 

Smith has been with Matchroom since the age of 16, and counts its founder Barry Hearn as his biggest inspiration (sorry Eddie).  

At least Smith now has time to plan Matchroom's move into music – and brush up on his culinary skills... 

Me...

What upcoming project(s) are you most excited about?

​We have so many big nights lined up for when live events return. Planning Joshua vs Pulev at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is very exciting plus some other big heavyweight nights with Whyte vs Povetkin and Usyk vs Chisora.

We are also looking at potentially moving into music which will be a new challenge. 

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

​I have been lucky enough over the last eleven years to be involved in some of the biggest boxing events around the world.

Being part of the team that put together Wembley Stadium for the Froch vs Groves rematch was a great feeling at such a young age (I was 21).

More recently, delivering the Joshua vs Ruiz rematch in Saudi Arabia felt like a great achievement.

If you could change one thing about your career, what would it be?

I’ve been very lucky to be given many opportunities over the years to understand all elements of our business so there isn’t anything I would want to change.

If I could change any moment it would be going back to 2008 and waking up on time to my alarm for a poker event we were filming. I’d only been working for three months and I turned up two hours late and it got me a memorable final warning!

What do you hope to achieve that you haven’t yet?

​I would quite like to replicate what we’ve done in sport in other events, ideally music as I mentioned above.

Outside of your family, who is / was your biggest inspiration?

​My boss Barry Hearn has been a huge inspiration to me, I've worked for him since the age of 16 and he’s always given me opportunities to grow and develop my career. To see what he’s built with Matchroom over 40 years is incredible.

Tell us something nobody knows about you…

​I can’t cook anything at all. Just terrible! Not even an egg! 

My lockdown

How are you finding lockdown?

​Very odd, I spent 285 nights in hotels last year so spending so much time in my house is quite unusual for me. 

Best thing about lockdown?

​Getting to spend time with my partner, Emily. She travels with me a lot, but I don’t usually spend too much time with her due to work. 

Worst thing about lockdown?

Spending time with Emily…. 

Top tip for surviving lockdown?

Make a plan for the week and stick to it. It’s very easy to lose focus during these times so I find sticking to a schedule is really important. 

If you could be locked down with one person, alive or dead, who would it be?

It has to be the king! Muhammad Ali!

What are you most looking forward to doing once lockdown is over?

Getting back to what we’re used to. I think I will appreciate the opportunities I have more at the end of this.

I’m lucky enough to travel the world but don’t always take in my surroundings.