Tyson Fury’s And Bob Arum Talks Ticket Impact As Fighter Focuses Home

Tyson Fury’s promoter Bob Arum says the economic impact of coronavirus means “low ticket prices” will be needed at events when boxing action returns.

The sport is on hold in the UK, while Arum has called events off in the US given the social distancing rules in place to slow the spread of the virus.

Arum, 88, does not feel fans will be “frightened” to attend future events.

“I think the problem will be prices for admission will have to be adjusted,” Arum told the 5 Live boxing podcast.

“People will be suffering economically,” he added, citing record unemployment figures in the US.

“When this is over and we go back to doing events with spectators, we have to be very, very careful to have relatively low ticket prices as people will not be able to afford the prices they had been paying before coronavirus.”

Fury v Joshua? Ask Wilder and Pulev…

The British Boxing Board of Control has suspended events until the end of May, while Arum’s Top Rank organisation has done so until the end of April.

Arum, who recently celebrated 54 years in boxing and has promoted 2,079 shows, is expected to oversee Fury’s WBC world heavyweight title defence against Deontay Wilder in July.

He also promotes Kubrat Pulev, who is set to face Britain’s IBF, WBA and WBO world champion Anthony Joshua on a rearranged date after their 20 June bout was postponed.

Some in the sport have questioned whether the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the boxing calendar could lead to a sought-after bout between Fury and Joshua now happening next.

“I suppose anything is possible,” Arum added. “But Pulev has rights. He has entered into a contract. Wilder has a contract to fight Fury yet again.

“No promoter like me, Eddie Hearn or Frank Warren is going to violate a contract. So let’s take a step back here, we have to respect everybody’s rights. Is it possible that Pulev and Wilder step aside to let Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua fight? Anything is possible but it’s up to them.”

Fury says he is not thinking of “boxing, Wilder or anybody” during the coronavirus pandemic.

The 31-year-old, who openly says he uses exercise to manage the well-documented mental health issues he has faced in the past, has been sharing videos of his home workouts and running four miles each day.

“You can take positives out of every negative, and the positive I can take out of this one is that I get to spend a lot more time with my family,” Tyson Fury told Talksport.

“People are really realising now what’s important in life. Sometimes we get lost in the ride of life, thinking about our ambitions and everything – and we forget about the really important things – families, friends, loved-ones, health.

“It has awoken me because I was one of those people who fell victim to that, always chasing stuff and always wanting to do big things, I was never happy sitting at home and I wanted to go out and be active.

“In the couple of weeks I’ve been locked down I’ve had time to focus on the things that really matter in my life. I think I’ll come back a different person and I think I’ll have a different mindset.”