By Kenneth Friedman: Boxing promoters are looking at coming up with contingency plans to restart the sport in the summer. According to Mike Coppinger, one option that Premier Boxing Champions on Fox is looking at is staging the fights at the Fox Studio Lot in Los Angeles.
It’s unclear what kind of testing would be involved for the fighters and production crew. That would be a significant hurdle that the promoters and organizers would need to leap through for the fights to take place in a studio setting. Moreover, there would need to be medical personnel standing by in case of an emergency.
Can the promoters bring boxing back by the summer?
The state commissions, sanctioning bodies, and local government would likely need to agree to all of this. There will be a lot of red tape that will need to be done to get boxing back in limited capacity behind closed doors.
With the summer only two months away, it’s hard to imagine the promoters successfully setting up fights to take place behind closed doors in a studio setting.
As some fans believe, if sporting events behind closed doors are going to be the thing of the future, then the promoters might as well start now. If the virus stays around for three or more years, then it could impact not only sporting events.
It would change the way people work, go to school, and function on a day to day basis. Social distancing and mask-wearing becoming the norm for society is like something out of a movie, but could be the new reality.
The 1918 Spanish flu lasted three years before it finally went away. There never was a vaccine created that could stop the thing. Luckily for the human race, the virus mutated into a nonlethal form, and it ended killing the way it had.
Sources: With boxing promoters creating various contingency plans to possibly return to business under safe-distancing guidelines during summertime, one option being explored for PBC on FOX fights is the use of the Fox Studio Lot in Los Angeles. Just one option amid uncertainty
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) April 10, 2020
The state governor for California will need to agree to let PBC fight cards to be staged at the Fox Studion Lot in Los Angeles. The question is, will Fox and PBC get the governor to agree to this?
PBC on Fox could do well
If PBC and Fox are the only game in town as far as boxing goes, they’ll likely bring in massive ratings, especially if fans are still housebound. It’ll be great for boxing fans to be able to watch the sport again, even in a limited capacity taking place in a sterile studio setting. Fans probably won’t complain. If there’s not going to be any boxing events with large crowds permitted for an extended period, then taking it indoors is the only answer.