Even with the number of super fights his company is forced to put on hold, Bob Arum is pleased with the response to Top Rank’s efforts to keep the lights on during this extended downtime.
The Hall of Fame promoter and his promotional staff continue to work around the clock in hopes of being able to bring boxing back to the American public by early June, to air and stream live on ESPN platforms. The U.S. boxing scene has been shut down since mid-March, with hundreds of bouts pulled from the schedule in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Top Rank has been forced to cancel at least six announced shows during that stretch, including Artur Beterbiev in a light heavyweight championship title defense, and a pair of unification bouts at bantamweight (Nayoa Inoue vs. John Riel Casimero) and lightweight (Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez). All have been backburnered until fans can once again attend fights.
In the meantime, there will come shows fought behind closed doors—and with notable talent already willing to participate. Included among the lot is130-pound titlist Jamel Herring, who is content with a stay-busy fight under such circumstances while he hopes to reschedule his title defense versus Northen Ireland’s Carl Frampton.
“Jamel Herring is 100% on board,” Arum confirmed to BoxingScene.com of his plans to stage events in Las Vegas beginning in June. “We couldn’t have been more thrilled when he agreed to step up. Obviously, he won’t be fighting Carl Frampton, that’s a fight that will have to wait until there are no longer any travel restrictions.
“In the meantime, we’ll get Herring back in the ring over here, maybe Frampton can get (a stay-busy bout) in the United Kingdom and they’ll both be ready for whenever we can reschedule their championship fight.”
Other Top Rank fighters earmarked for the series will include unbeaten featherweight titlist Shakur Stevenson, who was due to defend his belt on the canceled March 14 show and will now make his 130-pound debut. Casimero is willing to keep active with or without Japan’s Inoue in the other corner, as the three-division and reigning titlist from Philippines has been stuck in Vegas since February.
All three will presumably headline their own shows, which will feature no more than four fights per card until its deemed safe(-er) to add to that total.
“We have an obligation even without the revenue stream to keep this thing going,” notes Arum. “Keep the fighters busy and productive. Keep the flames burning, even with no spectators.
“It’s not ideal or something we would choose. But it’s the world we live in and we have a responsibility to keep our fighters busy and to provide the viewers at home with new content.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox