BOXING faces profound challenges. Amateur clubs have been shut down for months during the coronavirus pandemic and, even when they can reopen their doors, they will have to operate under restrictions, a particular problem as the essential elements of training in a boxing club are hardly compatible with social distancing. This is a contact sport after all.
There is an understandable concern too about how willing the public will be to return to indoor gyms even when it is permitted. “How many parents are going to send their kids to the club? They’re going to be worried just the same as sending them to school,” Graeme Rutherford, the coach of the highly successful Birtley club, reflected.
New protocols for when indoor gyms are allowed to open from July 25 involve keeping a log of when everyone is in the gym, limiting numbers, maintaining distance during exercise and so forth (see the guidance on England Boxing’s website). Such measures are still difficult for amateur clubs to implement. “It’s not like football where you come into contact with each other once every so many minutes. Boxing’s in your face. It’s contact. You’re not going to be able to do padwork, you’re not going to be able to spar. So if you can’t spar, how are you going to be able to box?” Rutherford said.