Joshua Buatsi could headline the first UK card with fans present since the coronavirus pandemic in September, according to Eddie Hearn.
The Matchroom boss is targeting September 12 for a show, although he admits the numbers of tickets on sale could be as low as 100.
The card, which will probably be in London, will be headlined by Buatsi, the unbeaten former British light-heavyweight champion and Olympic medal-winner, with Hearn also trying to set up a world title fight for Chantelle Cameron, the unbeaten lightweight.
Matchroom are running their Fight Camp shows from their Essex headquarters on four successive Saturdays from August 1 until August 22 and have also announced shows in Cardiff and Newcastle in October, which Hearn expects to have social-distancing measures in place. They are also running their first US show since the lockdown without fans at an outdoor arena in the financial area of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
But the wider Matchroom company is also running the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield, starting on July 31, which has been designated as a test event by the UK Government for allowing supporters to attend.
“We’re now assessing and putting forward the models for social distancing within arenas,” Hearn said.
“We were lucky enough to be one of the test events for the Government with the world snooker and it’s been arduous process - just brutal with grouping and households and track and trace, walkways.
“We’re having to do the same thing moving forward. Because they’re not just going to turn 'round and say: ‘OK, everyone is welcome back’, you have to put these proposals forward.
“So our next step within Matchroom Sport after - because it's going to be around 400 people with the snooker - can we get that same kind of amount in the O2, York Hall, Crystal Palace Leisure Centre - wherever we choose to go with Buatsi in September.
“I’d like to think that could be boxing’s test event on September 12. It's the right kind of time to try - whether it's 100, 200, 400, those kind of numbers - and start the process.
“The only way we're going to get to start filling venues again is to go through the right channels and processes to prove to people it’s safe. It's not just the Government - they will set the regulations and legislation - it's actually getting the venues to be on side as well.
“To open up a venue like the O2, it’s very expensive. So, if you have 1-200 people, do they want to open the venue? And is it worth us even hiring a venue of that magnitude with that amount of people.”
Hearn is hopeful that unless there is a dramatic spike in coronavirus cases in the UK, crowds will return by October. But social distancing measures may mean bars will be kept shut inside venues to stop people congregating in concourses.
“If we're going to plan for September and have a crowd, that process really needs to start now,” he said. “We can’t turn around on September 1 and say: We've got a show in two weeks, you can come.
“So subject to a successful test period of those three sports, are you OK to look at this option? They may say: no it’s too early or they may see yes. I’d be very surprised if we couldn't get 100 or 200 in a venue, subject to successful test events.
“I don’t think it’s going to go - successful test events straight to 20,000 crowds. Boris Johnson already made it clear that October will see the return of live events subject to social distancing and it’s just the interpretation of how that looks for boxing.
“It’s probably increased security measures, track and trace, no bars, no concourses. We went through the modelling for the snooker – thankfully, I wasn’t leading that - but it’s taken months to get that right and get that approved.”
Hearn says he is reliant on ticket revenue to get some of his bigger-name boxers back into action.
“Billy Joe Saunders, Josh Warrington, Callum Smith - if he doesn’t get the Canelo fight - Kell Brook if he doesn't get the (Terrence) Crawford fight – they’re all fighters that are dependent on gate revenue, and, of course, Anthony Joshua, which would be end of November, maybe even first week of December.
“But the only way we’re going to get to 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 15,000 is to start the process for our sport and that will only come via Government approval.”
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for Boxing Scene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.
