Dan Hooker hits back at criticism of backyard brawls boxing tournament In a recent interview with Checkpoint, BCA president Billy Meehan slammed Hooker’s promotion, predicting that someone could get killed at the event. He went as far as to label it ‘straight-out thuggery’ and encouraged police to find the event’s venue and location. In a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, Hooker responded to Meehan’s comments. “Deter me? I feel like you’ve challenged me now, I was gonna leave it,” Hooker said. “Now you’re telling me there’s people trying to stop me? Now I have to do it. Now I’m bound and forced to pursue it. There’s obviously a few ‘lefties’ out there having a cry, but once everyone watches the full 45 minutes and just sees the respect by all of the fighters,” Hooker continued. “Since when did putting on gloves, having a punchout with your mates become illegal? And it’s being run by some of the best combat sports people in the country, when did that become illegal? “If that’s illegal, I feel like they’ve got better things to do.” The footage of the event will be posted to social media on Saturday. It’s uncertain if Hooker will stream the event independently or through a third-party broadcast.