While professional boxing in the United States is slowly getting back on its feet, it could be out for the count up in the north.
Quebec government officials are currently mulling a proposal that would potentially put a halt to all boxing events in the Canadian province for the foreseeable future, that is, until a vaccine for Covid-19 turns up.
Such a scenario, however, would pose a crippling blow to a rich Quebec boxing scene, according to longtime Quebecois promoters Yvon Michel and Camille Estephan. Both men are befuddled by what they perceive to be the needlessly callous nature of the intended proposal, claiming it is a shortsighted maneuver that fails to take into account the already tenuous livelihood of most professional boxers.
“I think there’s a prejudice against the sport,” Estephan told The Montreal Gazette. “We can’t survive without live events. They’re crucial. We have to find a way within the next couple of months."
Estephan runs Eye of the Tiger Management, which promotes (with Golden Boy) super middleweights David Lemieux, Erik Bazinyan, and heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov, among others. He believes boxers are being unfairly maligned by a bureaucratic power-grab.
“This is an injustice and a lack of respect … a lack of (due) diligence on their part. It’s unacceptable and dictatorial,” Estephan said. “It looks like Julius Caesar in Rome.
“Boxing’s the easiest sport to control when it comes to this virus. There’s not 40 or 50 people in a dressing room. You have the two fighters and the referee who are tested. We have the luxury of only one fighter in the dressing room with two coaches. Compare that to football, hockey or soccer.”
The health ministry of Quebec doesn’t see it that way.
“As the virus is spread mainly by droplets and in enclosed areas, boxing fights increase the risk of spread, taking into account they generally take place indoors,” a spokesperson for the government wrote in an email to The Montreal Gazette. “Sweat, blood and saliva are very present during a fight and even exceed two (meters) when blows are struck between opponents.The risks are therefore greater for a spread. Unlike soccer, which is played outside, ventilation is better, so secretions and droplets don’t stay suspended in the air due to ventilation.”
But that’s hogwash, says rival promoter Michel, who promotes light heavyweight contender Eleider Alvarez and heavyweight Oscar Rivas.
“We demand that there be a serious evaluation for a protocol carried out by competent people that allows professional boxing to return to Québec,” Michel told The Journal of Montréal. “There are ways to move forward (with boxing events) that have been proven, that function and that are 100% effective, and have never led to a single contamination."
Echoing Estephan’s statements, Michel agreed that the Quebecois government seems more interested in creating red tape than actual policy. Now, he and others who make a living from boxing are faced with an existential conundrum.
“They (government officials) not only don’t help us, they want to destroy us,” Michel said. “I can’t believe we’re treated that way. It’s a big lack of respect for what we’ve accomplished … what we’ve invested. We’re not some fly-by-night (business).”
Although Michel has a few fighters who have received dates to fight on American soil – Alvarez is scheduled to face American Joe Smith in a light heavyweight bout in the third week of August in Las Vegas on ESPN – he knows that won’t do anything to help the Quebec economy.
“We can’t depend (solely) on the will of American partners,” Michel said. “We can’t let our market completely die.”
By Sean Nam
Live Boxing is Under Threat in Quebec
-
Ruthless-RKO
- Welterweight
- Posts: 101191
- Joined: 24 Apr 2016, 11:59
-
Ruthless-RKO
- Welterweight
- Posts: 101191
- Joined: 24 Apr 2016, 11:59
Re: Live Boxing is Under Threat in Quebec
Estephan Not Pleased as Public Health Director Rejects Plan To Stage Event
According to The Montreal Journal, the National Director of Public Health, Horacio Arruda, continues to maintain the hard line with professional boxing.
At the end of the day Friday, he rejected a plan from Eye of the Tiger Management (EOTTM) to present a closed doors boxing event in a region of Quebec.
In a letter to promoter Camille Estephan, Dr. Arruda provided an answer that the boxing man was not expecting.
"For the moment, in Quebec, no direct physical contact during a confrontation in a combat sport is authorized, as specified in decree number 689-2020 of June 25, 2020," it was written in the letter that reporter Mathieu Boulay obtained a copy of.
"This combat sports ban is in effect in the context where Quebec declared a state of health emergency on March 14, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic."
According to Dr Arruda, the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in combat sports is high, in particular due to the non-compliance with the two-meter rule, the high and prolonged frequency of close contact, and the fact that the wearing of a mask or face cover is not recommended when practicing an activity of moderate or high intensity.
He also added that blows to the face favor the creation of droplets, which is the main vector of transmission. There are also interregional, interprovincial or international travel by participants which he says would not be a good thing in the context of a pandemic.
On the side of Camille Estephan, the promoter is in disbelief.
"Public health authorities in France believe that there is no more risk in combat sports, which includes boxing, than other sports," said the businessman. "The same thing on the side of Germany and England.
“In Japan, which is my benchmark, they have the same opinion. Is he [Dr. Arruda] going to make me believe that all these public health leaders from all over the world are wrong? We are really witnessing a situation of double standards, two measures."
In the same letter, Dr. Arruda raised an interesting point about the screening tests that would be used a few times before a possible boxing gala.
"[...] the use of PCR tests in asymptomatic people does not exclude that people are infected at the time of the fight," he said.
“The addition of this single measure would therefore not be enough to reduce the risks of transmission of COVID-19 during combat. "
This is another slap in the face of promoter Estephan. However, last Wednesday, optimism was at the rendezvous, while the dialogue was finally opened with the public health authorities.
"By saying such words, he is confirming that the tests that have been passed on to the public are not reliable," added Estephan. "We are especially aware that health decisions are taken with a cookie cutter.
“The worst thing for the economy and the population is instability. This is what we are currently seeing."
Seeing that he could not have public health approval, Estephan wanted the creation of a committee to review the case.
"We see that there is a lack of understanding of our sport and it must be remedied," concluded Estephan.
According to The Montreal Journal, the National Director of Public Health, Horacio Arruda, continues to maintain the hard line with professional boxing.
At the end of the day Friday, he rejected a plan from Eye of the Tiger Management (EOTTM) to present a closed doors boxing event in a region of Quebec.
In a letter to promoter Camille Estephan, Dr. Arruda provided an answer that the boxing man was not expecting.
"For the moment, in Quebec, no direct physical contact during a confrontation in a combat sport is authorized, as specified in decree number 689-2020 of June 25, 2020," it was written in the letter that reporter Mathieu Boulay obtained a copy of.
"This combat sports ban is in effect in the context where Quebec declared a state of health emergency on March 14, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic."
According to Dr Arruda, the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in combat sports is high, in particular due to the non-compliance with the two-meter rule, the high and prolonged frequency of close contact, and the fact that the wearing of a mask or face cover is not recommended when practicing an activity of moderate or high intensity.
He also added that blows to the face favor the creation of droplets, which is the main vector of transmission. There are also interregional, interprovincial or international travel by participants which he says would not be a good thing in the context of a pandemic.
On the side of Camille Estephan, the promoter is in disbelief.
"Public health authorities in France believe that there is no more risk in combat sports, which includes boxing, than other sports," said the businessman. "The same thing on the side of Germany and England.
“In Japan, which is my benchmark, they have the same opinion. Is he [Dr. Arruda] going to make me believe that all these public health leaders from all over the world are wrong? We are really witnessing a situation of double standards, two measures."
In the same letter, Dr. Arruda raised an interesting point about the screening tests that would be used a few times before a possible boxing gala.
"[...] the use of PCR tests in asymptomatic people does not exclude that people are infected at the time of the fight," he said.
“The addition of this single measure would therefore not be enough to reduce the risks of transmission of COVID-19 during combat. "
This is another slap in the face of promoter Estephan. However, last Wednesday, optimism was at the rendezvous, while the dialogue was finally opened with the public health authorities.
"By saying such words, he is confirming that the tests that have been passed on to the public are not reliable," added Estephan. "We are especially aware that health decisions are taken with a cookie cutter.
“The worst thing for the economy and the population is instability. This is what we are currently seeing."
Seeing that he could not have public health approval, Estephan wanted the creation of a committee to review the case.
"We see that there is a lack of understanding of our sport and it must be remedied," concluded Estephan.
-
margaret thatcher
- Featherweight
- Posts: 39234
- Joined: 22 Jul 2019, 15:43
Re: Live Boxing is Under Threat in Quebec
Baby gurl Kim Claville prob makes like 20x more from nursing than boxing