How do plans differ in the USA, the UK and mainland Europe?
Tuesday 28 April 2020 18:09, UK
Promoters Eddie Hearn of Matchroom, Bob Arum of Top Rank and Kalle Sauerland are working on how to next stage boxing events with public health their priority.
They have seen their major fights postponed by the coronavirus pandemic including Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder's trilogy, and the World Boxing Super Series final between Mairis Briedis and Yuniel Dorticos.
The challenges in the UK, the USA and mainland Europe are different, but plans are being formed to safely bring boxing back...
Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports: We are working with the government and British Boxing Board of Control to bring back boxing at the safe and appropriate time.
Bob Arum told Sky Sports: There are plenty of things we're doing to plan for reopening. We're doing it in a careful way, working with state commissions, to find a path to reopen in June and throughout the summer with no spectators. We are working hard on the logistics.
[We plan to return in] Nevada, California and Texas. We respect their commissions and know they would insist on rigorous standards. I don't want to open up, do fights, and spread the virus.
Kalle Sauerland told Sky Sports: We are scenario planning because you don't want to be caught cold when lockdown is lifted. We are realistic and taking it step by step.
Is it actually easier just to hold our hands up and say: 'We won't even consider public shows and we'll just focus on behind-closed-doors shows'? Big arena or stadium fights will be a real battle this year so maybe it's better to surrender now to focus on behind-closed-doors.
Bob Arum: We talk to Eddie Hearn regularly - they are also working to bring boxing back in a responsible way. We consult with Premier Boxing Champions, who are planning to reopen in July with no audiences. Promoters without a TV deal are out of luck but we will work with their fighters to keep the whole thing going.
Everybody is being cooperative, everybody is working together and nobody is jockeying for position as is the usual case in boxing.
Kalle Sauerland: We are bottom of the pecking order because of the demands our sport places on health services.
In the UK, there is an option to pay for private healthcare but that's an ethical issue. In Germany, however, we could do that because there is no push on the health service.
Bob Arum: It can only work if we do testing. We are contemplating, in Nevada, buying [coronavirus] testing equipment and having it handled by the commission. The testing must be such that we would get a positive or negative answer within 5-15 minutes.
Eddie Hearn: The focus is on ensuring the safety of the fighters and event teams as well making sure there is absolutely no additional pressure on the NHS in the event of a medical emergency.
Bob Arum: The mayor of Vegas is like the Lord Mayor of London - absolutely no administrative power! It is a figurehead position. She is a close friend of mine. But I don't know what the president's excuse is...
Kalle Sauerland: To get even more complicated, it isn't just one ban. It's a different ban per country. In Germany, there is a different ban per county - it is more relaxed in northern Germany than in Bavaria, where they have just cancelled Oktoberfest which is a bummer!
German football will come back on May 9 which is good news, but football doesn't require a team of parademics.
We are the largest promotion on mainland Europe and we promote in Scandinavia, part of which never even had a lockdown, so we are monitoring that carefully.
Bob Arum: No, I wouldn't. We are dealing with the sensible people at the UFC, but I don't look at Dana as being sensible.
When the protocols are implemented in Nevada, they would pertain to both Top Rank and the UFC so it would be a good alliance from the standpoint of buying testing equipment and donating it to the state.
UFC have a facility in Vegas where they could put on events without spectators. We could use designated hotels.
In co-operation we could handle the situation. We are working with the UFC in this regard. But I won't pick up the phone and talk to Dana White, I'm too old to aggravate myself!
Bob Arum: We can't bring UK fighters over to the US at this point. For example, I don't know if we can bring Naoya Inoue to the US [from Japan] even though he has a visa.
We have a problem with the Mexican fighters like Emanuel Navarrete and Miguel Berchelt. They have visas but will they be allowed across the border?
I lay out the questions and I know the problems, but do I have the answers? No.
Navigating through these currents is something very different to what a boxing promoter would traditionally do.
Kalle Sauerland: Our World Boxing Super Series final was scheduled for Latvia and we are monitoring the situation. Do we take it to another country and do it in a TV studio, or do we do it in Latvia later [in autumn]? It's too early to say.
Latvia has a very low-rate of the virus but we've seen it too much where it suddenly explodes. Their government makes its next decision in the middle of May and we are watching that. We're not experts!
We have ground-breaking plans to return in July and we are waiting for the call to 'start our engines'. This is a challenging moment for all sports but we are ready and willing to ride the storm when the time is right.
The country is not using social distancing to battle the pandemic. So boxing went ahead with boxers, referees, judges, fans and ring-card girls wearing face-masks.
Boxers only removed their face-masks during the fight - they previously weighed-in and went face-to-face wearing their masks.
Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez, Nicaraguan boxing icon, was a spectator and was seen entering the venue wearing a face-mask.
Every spectator had their temperature checked upon arrival and was seated at a safe distance from each other. Free tickets were given away but failed to fill the venue.
Football has also carried on in Nicaragua throughout the pandemic.
