Eddie Hearn is planning 4-6 weeks of boxing behind closed doors for when the coronavirus lockdown finishes.
The British Boxing Board of Control is making plans for a return in June, as long as the UK Government lockdown ends and suitable medical arrangements, including ringside doctors and paramedics are available, as well as suitable hospital availability.
Hearn is planning to restart in the summer in explosive style, with a strong of shows in a venue he described as “a unique environment”, which would be a purpose-built arena to minimise the possibilities of any coronavirus infections.
“I feel that June is still in the balance but we are working towards boxing behind closed doors for the end of June or early July,” Hearn said in an interview with the Daily Star.
“We have to be more careful than other sports such as darts or snooker is because of the medical requirements. We have to make sure it’s safe.
“We are in the process of building a unique environment for boxing to return.
“That will be our own environment that we will self-create for a period of probably between four and six weeks. We will stage a number of shows.”
The shows are not likely to include Anthony Joshua’s world heavyweight title defence against Kubrat Pulev, or Matchroom’s other scheduled pay-per-view shows, featuring Dillian Whyte against Alexander Povetkin, or Oleksandr Usyk against Derek Chisora.
But Matchroom’s postponed Sky Sports Fight Nights could be broadcast that way, including Josh Kelly’s European welterweight title challenge against David Avanesyan and Terri Harper’s WBC super-featherweight title defence against Natasha Jonas.
Lee Selby and Lewis Ritson have also seen shows postponed recently, although bouts involving overseas opponents would depend on travel restrictions being relaxed.
“It's definitely a unique project,” Hearn said. “There is a lot of work to be done and don't want to give too much away to competitors.
“It will be a unique environment that will focus on the safety of the boxers, focus on delivering fights for the boxers and delivering unique TV content for our broadcasters.
“We don't want to take any chances though. For the sake of a few months we are not going to put people at risk of contracting an illness which could potentially be fatal so we won’t do it unless it is safe.”