By Allan Fox: WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman says that people are “reacting wrongly” to the news of the coronavirus pandemic, and he says they should continue to live their lives but follow precautions. Above all, Sulaiman advises that people shouldn’t panic.
In the U.S, promoters like Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions have postponed fight cards. On Wednesday, Top Rank postponed their March 14 and March 17 cards after previously scheduling them to be without fans present.
According to Steve Kim, the reason why the two fight cards were postponed by Top Rank is if someone at the fight tested positive for coronavirus, then everyone would need to be quarantined for 3 weeks after. That would be a huge negative for the lives of people that attended the two fight cards.
One frustration is the lack of easy testing to detect the virus. It would have been a risk for those cards to take place without the fighters being tested.
Sulaiman advises people to take vitamins, drink tea, exercise, don’t smoke and practice good hygiene.
Countries are locking down travel and advising against crowding. These measures along with preventing large crowds from assembling could help limit the spread of the coronavirus.
I have spoken to so many experts and doctors about the virus and the fact is that the world is reacting wrongly. Please educate yourself about it and then you will understand that we must not panic and life can continue as usual with specific precautions.
— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) March 12, 2020
“What YOU can do about the virus crisis:
– Take Vitamin C + Zinc
– Eat healthily
– Extreme Hygiene
– Wash your hands constantly
– Exercise
– Don’t smoke
– Drink water constantly
– Drink hot tea
– Don’t panic!
– Follow instructions of health authorities and experts,” said @wbcmoro.
Some of the things that Suliaman is advising people to do won’t help prevent a person from getting the virus. In reaction to Suliaman telling boxing fans not to panic, many of them are suspicious about his advice. They think his recommendations are in order to keep the fights going regardless of the risk involved to those would be attending them.
WBO President Francisco ‘Paco’ Valcárcel, Esq. has a different take on the coronavirus pandemic. This is what he says about it at wboboxing.com:
“The serious situation that the world is facing due to the terrible coronavirus pandemic forces us to postpone all our activities until next June. All our efforts will be aimed at preventing the spread of this terrible virus by helping to guide and educate all the young people who practice the sport of boxing, regarding how to fight the spreading of this virus. We urge our champions to collaborate with the health authorities in their respective countries, states, municipalities and with the World Boxing Organization in such a noble and necessary effort.”