Top Rank will begin putting on fights in June for the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic erupted in the United States, promoter Bob Arum told ESPN on Wednesday. The promotion is working with ESPN on a schedule.
"We are coming back in June," Arum told ESPN. "These will be shows that will be on ESPN and ESPN+. They will take place during the week and on weekends."
The last event promoted by Top Rank occurred Feb. 22, when heavyweight Tyson Fury stopped Deontay Wilder in seven rounds. That said, none of the fights will have the spectacle of that rematch: The events will take place without live audiences, as per current social distancing regulations.
"For the rest of the summer, there won't be a crowd," Arum said. "I don't anticipate — now, I don't know — being able to do fights with any kind of crowd 'til the fourth quarter (of 2020)."
Arum, who expressed interest in hosting events in Florida — where the governor's office has deemed WWE an essential business — said Top Rank will likely contest its first few events in Nevada. Top Rank is headquartered in Las Vegas.
"That's what we're planning because it makes it easier for us. Our gym can be used for training," Arum said. "We have hotels that we (can) be opening up, and there won't be, initially, a big market of customers for rooms. They will have plenty of rooms available. These hotels have big ballrooms, which we could use to stage an event, and these ballrooms we could take for a two-month period, June and July, to put on events, maybe with an option to take them in August or September.
"Because of the amount of hotel rooms in Las Vegas and because of the steps taken by the hotels and casinos there to get a clean, sanitary environment that we can rely on — because we know the people — it would be our preference to do the events in Nevada.
Bob Bennett, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, did not corroborate Arum's claims of Top Rank returning in June. Bennett on April 15 said that he would not authorize fights until medical experts said it was safe to do so.
“I can tell you that the Nevada Athletic Commission is going to listen to the doctors, the scientists, all the experts before making any decision (about when to allow fights in the state),” Bennett told Yahoo Sports. “One of the things that I always say is that everything we do is about the health and safety of the fighters."
It's uncertain whether Arum has already received backing from Bennett, but he regardless feels confident in his promotion's ability to resume fights next month.
"Everybody is working together. We're going to do this," Arum said. "We got word that Nevada will have a major testing facility at one of the hospitals in Las Vegas, which can handle many thousands of tests a day. So we're working through everything. It's not something that we're experts in. We have to rely on the medical experts and so forth.
"But just now, we're working closely, certainly in Nevada, with the commission and the medical experts, with the hotels, and we'll be doing the same in California."