Bob Arum spends a lot of times these days trying to figure out when and where his biggest stars will fight amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Highly paid figures like Tyson Fury, who Arum co-promotes, and Vasiliy Lomachenko aren’t likely to fight in empty arenas because of the money generated by live gates would have to sacrificed.
That means Arum and the promoters of other stars must find venues where they can fight in front of spectators or wait until they can.
For Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III, Arum said possible sites are Macau, China, Australia or the new NFL stadium in Las Vegas. For Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez, the Raiders new home – Allegiant Stadium – is a potential venue.
The idea behind staging these fights in stadiums is that a relatively small number of spectators can be spaced out for safety reasons.
Arum has done business with authorities in Macau, which is known for its casinos and is not under the same restrictions. Manny Pacquiao and Lomachenko have fought there.
“When we postponed the fight in July we punted it to October,” Arum told Sky Sports. “I then called Fury and told him to forget about October. We’ll try to do it in November or December. We are moving ahead.
“Maybe Macau which needs to attract customers and has tremendous protocols. They have had, for months now, no cases of coronavirus. There are six big casino properties in Macau. We’ve talked to them.
“They’re ready to put up money for the Fury fight against Wilder in November or December. We are waiting to see if the authorities in Macau will allow an event with full spectators in November or December.”
Australia or the Las Vegas stadium remain options. Pacquiao, then promoted by Arum, fought Jeff Horn in Brisbane.
“Our friends in Australia are talking about doing this fight, probably in Sydney. That’s a possibility,” Arum said. “… “Maybe we can do it with a full attendance at the new stadium in Vegas of the Raiders. Maybe we could do it with 20,000 or 30,000 people.
“… I can’t tell you where, but I’m pretty sure we’ll get this event on in November or December. We’re not sleeping. We’re working hard to get it done.”
Meanwhile, Arum is targeting September for the Lomachenko-Lopez lightweight title-unification fight.
He hopes restrictions will ease to a point where a limited number of fans will be allowed to attend such events.
“A big fight, we’re hoping to do it in September with a limited audience,” Arum told Sky Sports. “We’re talking to the new American football team, the Las Vegas Raiders, who have a beautiful new $1.8 billion stadium.
“They’re talking to us about doing this fight in their stadium in September for maybe 10,000 people spread out. Everybody is working to get these things done. We can’t talk definitely until we have satisfied all the regulatory bodies.
“The Nevada commission is way ahead of everybody in terms of moving forwards.”
Top Rank is the first U.S. promotional company to bring boxing back. It’s first card – without spectators – is scheduled for Tuesday (June 9) in Las Vegas.