By Dan Ambrose: In a MAJOR blow to boxing, the Nevada Commission has suspended ALL combat sports for the state “indefinitely” as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. @MikeCoppinger reporting the Nevada Commission making the decision to suspend combat sporting events in the state, which will directly affect cards in March and April.
Canelo vs. Saunders could be delayed
It could also delay the announcement for the May 2 for the unification fight between super middleweight champions Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders. That fight was recently agreed on for May 2 in Las Vegas, which is the city were Canelo fights almost always nowadays. Whether Canelo would be willing to fight away from Las Vegas is questionable.
The boxing public has been waiting for over a month for the announcement on the Canelo vs. Saunders fight, but now it looks like it’s not going to happen. Unless Canelo is willing to take the fight out of Nevada, he may need to scrape the Saunders fight.
It’s not as if Canelo can take the Saunders fight overseas to the UK, as that country is expected to receive a ban on large crowds by the British Prime Minister next week. Canelo may end up needing to fight Saunders in a TV studio if he insists on carrying that fight out.
Fights that will be impacted
Two popular boxing fights that will need to be rescheduled or moved to a different date:
- Luis Nery vs. Aaron Alameda – March 28 at Park Theater in Las Vegas
- Jerwin Ancajas vs. TBA – April 11 at Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas,
California recently suspended all combat sporting events in their state recently, which caused the cancellation of the March 28 Golden Boy Promotions card headlined by Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Samuel Vargas at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
“Sources: Nevada State Athletic Commission has suspended all combat sporting events indefinitely due to #COVIDー19. Canelo-Saunders can’t be scheduled until the ban lifted. Affects UFC events relocated to APEX (March 28 & April 11) along with PBC (March 28) and Top Rank (April 11),” said @MikeCoppinger.
No telling when the ban will be lifted by NSAC
It’s unknown when the Nevada State Athletic Commission will lift the ban. That will likely depend on medical personnel letting people know when the coronavirus goes away. If this is anything like the Spanish Flu of 1918, it could last until later in the year, but anything is possible. It’s a different virus, and there’s no way of predicting how long it’ll stay around.
Top Rank Boxing is planning on staging a fight between bantamweight champions Naoya Inoue and John Riel Casimero inside of a TV studio. That might be the way of the future if the virus stays around for a prolonged period of time.