The British Boxing Board of Control have cancelled all public boxing shows until April at the earliest due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Following UK Prime Minister Boris Jonson’s press conference on Monday night, the sporting body were left with little choice other than to put mass events on hold.
Johnson told the nation: “Risks of transmission of the disease at mass gatherings such as sporting events are relatively low.
“But obviously logically as we advise against unnecessary social contact of all kinds, it’s right that we should extend that advice to mass gatherings as well.
“We’ve also got to ensure that we have the critical workers we need, that might otherwise be deployed at those gatherings, to deal with this emergency.
“So from tomorrow we will no longer be supporting mass gatherings with emergency workers in the way that we normally do.
“Mass gatherings we are now moving emphatically away from.”
The BBBofC’s press release did offer some hope though, with the option of fights behind closed doors up for consideration.
It read: “With regard to the statement made by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, all public tournaments [shows] under the jurisdiction of the British Boxing Board of Control are unfortunately cancelled.
“Further consideration of the matter will take place at the beginning of April.
“We have a number of requests for tournaments to be held behind closed doors however, the practicality and logistics will be considered fully following advice from Board Medical Officers.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn previously expressed mixed feelings about the prospect of fights without fans.
He said: “I don’t like it because boxing is a sport that is built on that energy, those great moments where the crowd goes crazy and everyone’s in the stands singing ‘Sweet Caroline’.
“Also, the bigger shows are gate dependant in terms of the money for the shows. To pay the fighters, to make sure that everything can get taken care of, for the undercard.
“So when you start talking about AJ, when you start talking about Oleksandr Usyk, when you start talking about Dillian Whyte, the crowd is very [important] to the success of that event.
“When you start talking about the smaller stuff, it might be our Doncaster card with Terri Harper vs Natasha Jonas – that’s in Doncaster Dome which holds 1,400 people.
“If we have to stage events behind closed doors to make sure that we can provide content for our TV partners and, more importantly, provide fights and opportunities for our fighters, then it’s something we’ll definitely look at.
“But for the bigger events, not just financially, it don’t sit right with me.
