The air had an earthy scent while the leaves rustled on the pavement, scratching and scraping against each other as the cool wind blew to signal the onset of rain.
It was a dreary Sunday when an all-too-familiar name popped on the phone screen.
“How you doing?” said the guy with a thick New York drawl.
The voice belonged to Bob Arum, the Harvard-educated lawyer who heads Top Rank, the promotional outfit he founded in 1966 and which once ran the affairs of Manny Pacquiao.
The caller had been a great source of news the last 15 years for the fellow who was about to write his first column for his new paper.
They had been together during press tour stops across the United States and elsewhere to hype events on board every conceivable mode of transport except for, maybe, a submarine or a hot air balloon.
You see, Arum, 88, is the man behind boxing’s resurgence during the coronavirus era and even before the term “bubble” went viral, he had already been saying it.
Arum’s bubble is located at the sprawling MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where he has housed fighters, their trainers, production people and his own staff since June.
So far, Arum has staged 13 shows in seven weeks and is on the verge of coming out with weekly shows beginning next week until October.
“We worked for over two months because nobody had done it before. We had to bring in the public health doctors in Nevada and the athletic commission.”
With everyone’s safety being paramount, Arum said participants are tested up to six times right up until the eve of the fight and told to remain in the bubble, an isolated area inside the MGM Grand that houses everything: The ring, dining and lodging areas and a mini medical center.
By “participants,” Arum meant not just boxers and cornermen but everyone involved in the fight cards: Ring officials, commission personnel and utility workers.
Test results are sent back in four hours, said Arum, who revealed he himself got tested a dozen times.
He spends an average of $350,000 a show and admits he doesn’t have an idea when things will get back to normal.
“What we are planning now until the end of November, there will be fights but without spectators. In December, maybe or maybe not, we can have limited spectators.”
Boxing man Sean Gibbons, closely allied with Pacquiao, shares Arum’s sentiments.
“This coronavirus has wrecked everything and we are looking forward to the day when we can all get back together,” he said.
Given the surge in cases worldwide, Gibbons is close to giving up.
“If we can’t fix it, then God will,” Gibbons said.
