WBC seeking ways to ensure safe return of boxing, including testing and remote staff
The World Boxing Council sanctioning body is looking at proposals for the return of boxing in July, including remote scoring by judges to reduce staff working at events in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have been working for several years on the evaluation of remote online ring officials,” Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC, explained from his home in Mexico City on Tuesday night.
“This platform is ready to be used in case it will help to reduce the number of persons at a boxing event.”
The WBC – whose heavyweight and lightweight titles are held by Tyson Fury and Katie Taylor – has laid out guidelines from testing protocol to comportment from boxers, teams and officials, which would include stringent testing and minimum numbers taking part in events.
Other guidelines include virtual press conferences and weigh-ins behind locked doors, laying out protocol for tests, the number of participants, pre-event medical questionnaires, and the overall sanitation procedures for future events when boxing begins again.
“We have estimated that with around 10 boxers at an event, we may be able to go ahead with an event which has around 50 people maximum inside the venue, which will include the boxers, their teams, commission members and ring officials,” said Sulaiman.
The judges will be set up to officiate from home, or a remote venue near where the action takes place, and will score fights in real-time through an online portal, with – ideally – access to the official television feed.
“We have an app, the judges will have the app,” Sulaiman continued. “At the end of the round, the judge just has to press the number—10, 9, 8, 7, 6 or whatever for that fighter, and then the same for the other fighter and then submit.
“The viewing angle will depend on the production, there are fights are produced by Showtime, by ESPN… they have very good production with many cameras. They have the capability of providing the feed in one way or another compared to other low budget shows that can only present a show from a limited number of angles.”
Meanwhile, new guidelines laid out by the British Boxing Board of Control could see boxers forbidden from spitting. The traditional spit bucket for boxers on British fight shows has been outlawed and corner teams and trainers will wear protective masks under proposed rules for events.
As Robert Smith outlined to Telegraph Sport last week, referees and any auxiliary staff at the event will also wear masks and the ring and ropes may be sprayed with disinfectant along with rigorous pre-fight testing for Covid-19 for all workers taking part in events, which are being planned within specially sealed and sanitised venues at television studios, or even within hotels with reduced cards of ten fighters to begin with.
The Boxing Board has sent a five-page consultation document to UK promoters which is likely to include no championship contests.
The document lays out such things as fight shows to begin without any fans; boxers, referees and trainers will be transported to the venue wearing personal protective masks.
Boxers will only remove their masks during bouts. There will be no ring announcers, no ring girls or TV cameras inside the ring. Every boxer taking part, their trainers and the referees must be tested for Covid-19 48 hours before the fight night itself and will be expected to self-isolate at a hotel until their test result is known.
Robert Smith, secretary of the Boxing Board contacted The Telegraph on Wednesday to explain: “At the moment this is purely a consultation document and we are simply discussing important measures that could be place to create optimum safety standards so that we are ready to proceed with the sport again once we get the green light to continue.”
Two events are still scheduled for July, although the original contests including Dillian Whyte v Alexander Povetkin (WBC interim heavyweight title), Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano (WBC, IBF, WBO and WBA lightweight titles) and Callum Johnson v Igor Mikhalkin (vacant European light-heavyweight title) scheduled for Manchester, promoted by Eddie Hearn, and Frank Warren’s July card involving Daniel Dubois v Joe Joyce for the British & Commonwealth heavyweight titles are not yet confirmed.
Under the guidelines, people who are 70 years old or older, and those with chronic lung disease or moderate asthma, individuals with serious heart conditions and anyone who has had a fever, cough, cold or flu-like symptoms in the previous 14-day period will not be permitted to attend events.
For now, as Smith outlined Telegraph Sport, all events will take place with an audience, and when spectators are permitted, they will have to socially distance.