It’s green and go for the first world title fight on local shores during the pandemic era, Filipino promoter Gabriel “Bebot” Elorde said yesterday.
Elorde said the clash for the vacant World Boxing Association minimumweight crown would be held this Saturday in one of the function rooms inside the Binan Football Field in Laguna.
“All the participants have been quarantined since 6 February,” Elorde said, including main event fighters Vic Saludar and Robert Paradero.
“They are all staying in a gym that also serves as their training ground. They are not allowed to get out of the facility and they do everything there, including jogging,” Elorde said.
He added that venue will not accommodate even a small number of spectators with only necessary personnel being present.
Saludar and Paradero, as well as the undercard fighters and their trainers, will undergo a saliva test tomorrow (Wednesday) and results will be released the next day.
Elorde is confident that no one will turn up with a positive finding given the strict safety requirements being enforced.
The fight was originally scheduled in December last year but the coronavirus situation compelled Elorde to reschedule it for January.
But when Elorde still found it difficult to hold it, he moved it to 20 February.
“I think everyone would be negative because all of them are quarantined in one place,” he said.
A week later on 27 February, another world title fight takes place, this time, in General Santos City.
