It came down to one question: Can fighters be tested for the ever-expanding coronavirus?
Ultimately, the answer was a no. So on Thursday promoter Top Rank and New York City’s Madison Square Garden decided to pull the plug on both the Shakur Stevenson-Miguel Marriaga and Mick Conlan-Belmar Preciado cards that were scheduled to take place today and Tuesday, respectively, at MSG’s Hulu Theater.
Initially, both Top Rank and MSG decided to carry on with both cards without a live audience, inviting only relevant staff and media. That fulfilled the criterion laid down by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who announced a ban on gatherings larger than 500 people. Stevenson-Marriaga was scheduled to be featured on ESPN, Conaln-Preciado on ESPN+.
But with nearly the entire American sporting scene moving to suspend seasons outright – from professional and collegiate basketball to hockey, soccer and baseball – there was pressure for boxing to do the same. Then, of course, there was the question of testing. Or rather, the inability to do so.
That was the final nail in the coffin, according to Top Rank CEO Bob Arum.
“We were consulting the whole time with the New York State Athletic Commission,” Arum told SiriusXM. “They correctly brought in their medical staff and their advisers, and they said we would advise you to not go ahead [with the two shows] because who is going to test the fighters? And if a fighter has the virus, he could easily transmit it to his opponent, who might not have it, because they’re in very, very close contact.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 testing is only available for those who have received doctor’s orders or “have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19, or if you live in or have recently traveled from an area with ongoing spread of COVID-19.”
Fighters who show no apparent symptoms, therefore, would not be eligible to get tested.
Arum had hoped that the shows could go on, given how much preparation and investment are made into one-off events like boxing.
“We have an obligation to these young men, to these fighters, who work like a bastard to get ready for a fight,” Arum said. “The last thing we wanted to do is pull the plug so we figured we could apply with the New York State rule, no more than (500) people in a room, and do the fight without an audience. No media, no nothing, just the television. And it looked like we could get that done.
“I mean it was a big sacrifice for us to lose the gate, but at least the fights [could go] on.”
But with no ability to test for the coronavirus, the fights, ultimately, were a moot point.
Follow Sean Nam on Twitter @seanpasbon
