Heather Hardy opened up about some of her struggles and concern because of the coronvirus pandemic currently ravaging the globe…
Count Heather Hardy as one of many boxers struggling to make ends meet because of the novel coronavirus.
Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered all non-essential businesses to close their doors indefinitely in order to stymie the transmission rate of COVID-19. That included gyms, which meant Hardy, who trains private clients at Brooklyn’s Gleason’s Gym, was out of yet another gig. Talk about a double whammy.
“When they shut down gyms I’m officially out of work. I’m unemployed. I have no job,” Hardy said on a recent episode of the Everlast TalkBox Podcast. “I had 24 hours following the shutdown I was just in complete utter chaos, crying. I couldn’t even help myself. This impending doom, like, what’s going to happen to me?”
Hardy faces a more daunting reality than most fighters who pick up gargantuan paychecks with each fight.
Female boxers are not as highly compensated as their male counterparts. For example, in her unsuccessful world title challenge against Amanda Serrano last year, Hardy said she received less than six figures – and that was before any deductions were made to her corner, manager and the tax man. It was also a brutal fight for Hardy, who was dangerously close to getting knocked out in the first two rounds before making it to the final bell.
Prizefighting is a full time job for Hardy but it doesn’t pay like one, at least not enough to support her family, which includes a young daughter. But Hardy didn’t dwell on her uncertain future for too long.
“I woke up the next morning, and it was like, ‘Nah, we gotta figure this s— out,” she said. “This can’t be over. This can’t be [about] sitting around and looking at the four walls waiting for it to get better.
“A week ago this was unimaginable. To think that we we would be homeschooling our kids, we can’t see our family, going outside is dangerous, washing your hands seven, eight times a day after you touch something. It was unimaginable a week ago. But we’re super resilient and adaptive.”
Hardy takes some solace in the fact that everyone is feeling the effects from the coronavirus. She is hopeful that this will spur people – from neighbors to policymakers – to come up with better solutions in these tough times.
“The best thing to do is wake up everyday and figure out how to get through the next 24 hours,” Hardy said. “Everybody all around the world is experiencing exactly what I am … we’re all terrified, but we’re all terrified together.
“And that’s going to push people to come up with a resolution. Everyone can’t get thrown out of their homes, everyone’s lights can’t go off. There has to be a collective effort to make the best out of this that we can.”
