Boxing always delivers stories about loyalty, treachery, naivety, and inevitability.

The Conor Benn story is a classic, modern tale of extremes in the boxing world: division, truth and rights, and plenty of juicy, unknown elements.

Benn has turned his back on the people who saved him, walking off to do a deal with the opposition. It looks and feels like a monstrous betrayal, but there are, obviously, degrees of separation in this boxing story.

Eddie Hearn sat on his hotel bed at midnight a few nights ago in Nottingham and talked about his sadness, his shock at the betrayal. At the same time, in Las Vegas, Benn was talking about the deal that made him leave Hearn’s Matchroom to sign for Dana White’s Zuffa outfit.

According to Benn, it was a deal he simply couldn’t resist. In Hearn’s version, there was a refusal by Benn to even discuss the deal, the shattering split. Boxing insiders and outsiders took sides: Benn was a dog; Hearn was naive; it’s just boxing. It is, clearly, a bit more complicated than that.

The one thing that everyone should agree on is that the move was made for cash. There is no polite way to hide that truth: Benn left because White offered more money for his next fight. However, Hearn never got to make a counteroffer, and he insists that is why he wanted to have a man-to-man conversation with Benn. There is no real proof of the fee offered by White and accepted by Benn. There is just endless speculation masquerading as fact. The money boxers get paid is one of sport’s most cherished private transactions.

There are people in the boxing business who claim that Benn’s defection is normal, to be expected, and that nobody should be shocked by a boxer crossing the street for a potential increased payday. That would be, under normal operating circumstances, perfectly acceptable.

However, the Benn and Hearn axis was not normal; it was all about loyalty and debt and commitment to each other. It might sound superficial and convenient, but Eddie Hearn put his own reputation and that of his family’s sporting empire on the line when he defended Benn against multiple drug charges.

Hearn was staunch in his support, and Benn publicly appreciative. Then, once Benn was clear to fight, Hearn put together the two Chris Eubank Jr fights last year. They were stunning and lucrative fights for everybody involved – and that includes the Matchroom machine.

Hearn insists that there has not been a row, not been a private argument, between him and Benn. Hearn blames himself for not chasing Benn’s signature. It seems he trusted the fighter he had saved and felt there was no need to pursue him to renew his deal. Benn claims he switched to secure a financial future for his family; it is hard to argue against that plan.

Hearn taking his eyes off the prize is a classic example of naivety at the highest level; Benn was, instead, pursued by White and steered that way by members of his own team. It is strictly business, but it just feels morally wrong.

There will inevitably be a lot more to come and, as they once said on Fleet Street, “it’s got legs this story, son”. In the next few weeks, we might find out if the story has two or four.