Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
IT’S A LOCK OUT
Fight night is back in front of empty MGM Grand as Las Vegas ‘Bubble’ provides blueprint for safe return
BOXING is back – but, boy, is it different. Shakur Stevenson topped the bill in Las Vegas in the early hours of yesterday morning.
It was a routine stoppage win against an over-matched Felix Caraballo but it will be memorable because it was the first card of the ‘new normal.’
Stevenson’s promoters Top Rank are the first to bring back big names as they hosted the show in a ballroom at the MGM Grand.
The hotel’s famous arena in the basement of the complex has staged some of the biggest nights in the sport’s history.
But it was upstairs, in what Top Rank affectionately called ‘The Bubble’, that boxing returned.
Boxers arrived in Las Vegas over the weekend and were tested for coronavirus before being allowed on to the floor of the hotel where they would eat, sleep, train, weigh in and then fight.
It must have felt strange to have such safety protocols in place while downstairs on the casino floor punters – many unmasked – were gambling and drinking as if Covid-19 was never heard of.
“Everything about this fight week was different,” said Stevenson.
Top Rank had set up the fight venue to make it look good for TV, while masked 88-year-old promoter Bob Arum watched on from what he said was the furthest he has sat from a ring in many decades. Even the judges had to sit further back than their usual position of resting their scorecards on the ring apron.
ESPN had just one member of their on-screen team in the venue with pundits Andre Ward and Timothy Bradley, as well as commentators, working from home.
Once the action begun, it felt strange even if it was a relief to have the sport back. Every punch could be heard swishing through the air before cracking on its target, every shout echoed out from the corner. But it was good to be able to clearly hear the referee’s instructions throughout.
Stevenson, 22, extended his record to 14-0 with his sixth-round stoppage win and Arum is not exaggerating when he says he has the talent to be a “pound-forpound superstar”.
The card may have had too many mismatches but Top Rank can be given a pass for now.
They’ve brought the sport back and now they can build on making the ‘new normal’ enjoyable.