Bob Arum intends to explore putting on studio shows in Florida or wherever else boxing productions eventually would be allowed.
The 88-year-old promoter won’t consider going through with such shows, though, without being able to guarantee through testing that each person participating in the event would be safe from COVID-19. Even then, Arum told BoxingScene.com that he doesn’t envision scheduling studio shows, broadcasts without fans in attendance, until sometime in June at the earliest.
“I won’t do studio fights just to do studio fights,” Arum said. “I would do studio fights if I can guarantee the participants, the referees, the judges, the commission, the cameramen, everyone involved, weren’t at risk. And the only way that can be done is if you have this testing where you got the results back in five minutes, which apparently now can happen.
“But again, I’m not gonna say, ‘OK, let me do it and I’ll test everybody,’ because then people would say, ‘Why should you get these tests, when there’s so many people that really need to be tested?’ There’s not enough tests as it is in the country. How can you divert those tests to putting on a studio boxing event? I don’t think it would be right. You’d have to be patient and do it when the time is right.”
ESPN.com reported Monday night that it’s possible boxing and mixed martial arts events will be permitted in Florida, now that the WWE has staged studio events in that state. Arum intends to discuss the logistics of studio shows with the WWE’s Vince McMahon, whose company was granted “essential” status by Florida governor Ron DeSantis to produce wrestling shows in Orlando and Winter Park.
The Top Rank Inc. founder still stressed the importance of testing for the coronavirus that has caused this pandemic.
“The first thing that you have to have is the better availability of testing,” Arum explained. “They have this five-minute test now. When they become readily available, you test not only the fighters, but the cameramen, anybody who’s gonna be in that room, the day of the final press conference.
“Let’s say the fight is on a Saturday. You test them on Thursday, and then you test them again on the day of the fight. Sometime before the fight, you would do a test. It doesn’t really sap any energy [from boxers]. You put a swab in their nostril, and then you get a result right away. You might lose a fight here and there at the last minute, but at least you’d have a safe environment.”
Holding boxing shows without fans obviously isn’t ideal. After what could become at least a three-month hiatus, Arum still would welcome studio shows over continuing to wait until fans can attend cards his company promotes.
“It’s better than the alternative,” Arum said. “If you can’t do shows before audiences, but you find a way to do shows in studios, it’s better to do the shows than not do the shows. But again, I can’t imagine getting back into action until sometime in June.”
Arum’s company canceled two events on short notice at the start of the coronavirus crisis in the United States. Both shows, scheduled for March 14 and March 17, were supposed to take place at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York.
“When we couldn’t do our March 14th and March 17th shows before an audience, we tried to do it without an audience,” Arum said. “But then the New York commission pointed out that wasn’t good enough because there was no testing and all of the other problems. So, we canceled it. That was good advice from the commission. Then, when we tried to save our April schedule in Nevada, we were told we couldn’t do it. Not because they were arbitrary, but because we couldn’t guarantee the protections that were needed.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.