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Eddie Hearn: Coronavirus impact will see boxers leave the sport

Eddie Hearn is worried about the future for fighters in the sport following the savage impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Matchroom Boxing, Queensberry Promotions and the World Boxing Super Series have been forced to postpone their events across Europe while Hearn’s Matchroom USA, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions have cancelled upcoming cards across the Atlantic indefinitely.  

Last week, the British Board of Control confirmed the earliest fans could expect boxing events to resume would be May. 

While elite fighters such as Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Anthony Joshua sweat on their 2020 plans, we can presume financially they’ll be fine. Other fighters down the pecking order are the ones boxing needs to look out for, though.

No fight means no payday, which ultimately sees fighters out of pocket after spending money on nutrition, strength and conditioning coaches, trainers and sparring partners for upcoming bouts in March and April. So what does this all mean?
According to Hearn, we could see a mass exodus. 

"The coronavirus is going to have a massive impact on every business, particularly boxing," Hearn told the BBC Radio 5 Live Boxing podcast.

"If this drags on to September, October, November, December we will have fighters that have not boxed this year.
"The fighters at the top end are going to be fine but the fighters coming through, small hall fighters, ones starting their careers or those who do not have a sponsorship deal face big concerns.
"They will have to give up the sport of boxing and get a job and that's heartbreaking for someone trying to live their dreams.
"If there are no events, the companies are not making money and the athletes are not getting prize money. We will see a lot of fighters have to give up the sport of boxing at a lower level because there's no income.

"We do not want people to leave the sport, we want the more fighters the better," said Hearn.

The 2020 Olympic dream is over

"But look at the Olympics, these people have grafted for four years to achieve their dream and fight in Tokyo.
"There's no chance of these Olympics taking place so what are they going to do? Everything is going to be a complete reshuffle of every sport.
"The Premier League moving back four months affects next season, the Euros have been cancelled, what will happen to the Olympic cycle? What will happen with our shows?
"We're delaying events in place and fighters are delaying their time to peak and earn, everyone is holding their breath to see how long this lasts - the message right now is do as people say.
"We hope to return to action in late or mid summer but no-one knows."
It’s a sickening blow for Britain’s leading amateurs, who had prepared four years for their chance to showcase skills on the biggest stage. 

Charley-Sian Davison, Peter McGrail, Caroline Dubois and Galal Yafai were just some of the names to have participated in European Qualifiers at the Copper Box in March.
Yafai in particular, refused to turn professional in 2016 after his early exit at the Rio Games. Rather than following brothers Gamal and Kal into the pro circuit, he instead put all his efforts into winning gold in Tokyo. While the Olympics may take place next year, it’s a big blow for Yafai, who looked destined to be in contention for a medal. 

Duty of care for fighters

While Rugby League and other niche sports fight for its future, Hearn is adamant boxing gets through the current coronavirus crisis. He said: "If you don't run a sustainable business very quickly this is going to unfold on you like a ton of bricks.

"Things have gathered momentum and it's been changing to worrying about your business to worrying about your family - that's when the other stuff plays second fiddle.
"You realise the severity of this and it's about life and death rather than just running a business.
"It's heartbreaking to see every sport suffer and some sports will never recover, some businesses will never recover but more importantly some people will never recover. When that's an issue everything stops and everything becomes insignificant.
"We will beat this, we must do as we're told but there will still be a future for this country, this sport and this economy.
"We have to make sure any fighter we have who is financially struggling is taken care of but we're lucky that a lot of fighters might have a monthly wage from us, a sponsorship deal or have earned enough money to be OK for four or five months.
"The ones lower down the scale are in big problems because they do not know when they are going to be fighting. This is a problem so deep, not just for fighters starting their career but also for darts players, snooker players, footballers starting out, cricketers.
"With the situation with the government and statutory pay, fighters can't go to the government and get 80% of their salary that does not exist."

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