As the world starts to emerge from the global pandemic that took many by surprise and seemed to bring the world to a stand still, and the economy to its knees, we are all assessing the damage. No boxing has been left unchanged, many do not exist anymore.
The impact on boxing has been catastrophic. No events have been allowed and many shows were cancelled. This causes a huge financial hit. Everything is paid for in advance. Yes you can claim some back and yes there is insurance. But money will still be lost. For the EBU, the impact send shockwaves through the entire organisation. One show would have been okay. Two shows would have hurt financially, but it would have been fine. 21 shows were cancelled and a further 11 possible shows were shelved. It’s not all doom and gloom. The EBU will still produce high quality shows. The portion of boxing that we controlled has shrunk, a lot. Our USP is inevitably going to change for a while. We were unique in that our shows were only ever viewable through show attendance and purchasing the ppv. This meant that we were the only organisation that could offer our boxers extra fee money for repeat showing. If we wanted to show a fight from four years ago, the boxers received a cut. No one could watch one of our shows or fights at any point without paying to see it. This meant that we were able to sign up some of the most talented fighters from all around the world. We still strongly believe that boxers should be the first to profit for repeat showings of their fights, even when they have long retired. We want to get back to that, but for now, we have had to look at other options. More details will follow on that matter. We will have to show some repeats free of charge. Great news for fans, bad news for the boxers. This will be temporary.
It’s also important to mention the impact on boxers. If they don’t fight they don’t get paid. They haven’t been able to fight or go to the gym. Many would have been in training camps when this started. If you cancel a training camp 5 weeks into it, you still have to pay for those weeks. The boxer must still pay sparring partners, trainers, gym fees, food bills, physiotherapists, the outgoing are endless. The boxer will pay most of these outgoings after the fight. If the fight doesn’t happen, the bills are still there. The stars would have had money to pay these fees. The younger pros would have spiralled into debt over night. Many wont come back to boxing. There isn’t a area of the sport that hasn’t been hit.
We don’t know when we will be staging our next show, but t will be jam packed with fights. We will need to get as many fighters out as possible. hosting multiple shows may seem like the sensible option. You need money in the bank to do that. So please, fans and boxers alike, be understanding. With your support we will be back to where we once were.
EBU official announcement.
English Boxing Union 