Queensberry Promotions head Frank Warren is stuck seeking for answers trying to piece the pugilistic puzzle back together.
Warren, Tyson Fury’s co-promoter, has already punted on the targeted July 18 date for a trilogy with Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas, but he’s hoping to get the boxing calendar back up and running slightly sooner than that after the global pandemic of coronavirus washes away.
“We have to hope boxing is on track in the next three months. At the moment, there are just no answers. Every boxer or manager is asking ‘when am I fighting?’ and I don’t know,” Warren told BBC. “We’re all up in the air and in the hands of the scientists. We have a lot to recover from and the financial situation in the world is going to not be in a good place.”
On Tuesday, it was announced that the Tokyo Olympics will be postponed until no later than the summer of 2021.
Warren believes a slew of amateurs will skip their dreams of medaling in the games and instead choose to turn professional.
“The Olympics are now more than a year away and are they going to stay in the unpaid ranks? I doubt it,” said Warren.
“They [boxers] are self-employed so they only get paid when they fight—a similar position to a waiter or waitress—it’s terrible. All we can do is hope the government gives some assistance to the sector … There are going to be tough times for everybody and we have to pull together and move forwards.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the LA Times, Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com and currently does TV commentary for combat sports programming that airs on Fox Sports and hosts his own radio show in Los Angeles. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com.