Orlando opening revives Meng hopes

Florida governor Ron DeSantis may have done Chinese boxer Meng Fanlong a huge favor.

Last week DeSantis declared World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) an "essential service" during the coronavirus pandemic, thus opening the door for other sports promotions to pursue staging postponed events in the southern US state.

One of the first to respond was Las Vegas-based Top Rank Boxing, which is looking for a suitable venue for Meng's challenge against IBF and WBC world light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev of Russia.

The title bout was originally scheduled for March 28 in Quebec City, Canada, with No 1 contender Meng, the unbeaten 32-year-old southpaw from Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, guaranteed a $460,000 (3.2 million yuan) payday.

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told ESPN he plans to ask the WWE's permission to use its facilities, such as the Performance Center in Orlando.

"It's very, very interesting, and we're going to be in touch with them. There's a possibility to use their facility to maybe do events without a crowd," Arum said, adding he is "very optimistic" that his company will be doing fights with audiences by the end of the year.

Arum said he would hold off on "crowd-less" shows for bigger fights－such as the heavyweight rubber match between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder－because of the money lost.

"Those are either going to have to wait until we can have spectators, or if the fighters get antsy, they will have to deal with an adjustment in their purses because you will have cut off an important revenue source from the event," said the promoter.

"For example, Fury and Wilder, the gate was close to $17 million for their second fight, and that's from the public buying tickets. How do you replace that? Well, if you don't replace it, somebody has to eat it."

While the Meng-Beterbiev bout is significant, it's nowhere near as big as Fury-Wilder III, so the former fight could potentially be the front-runner to launch Top Rank's Florida adventure.

Meng (16-0, 10 KOs), who fought at the 2012 London Olympics, said in March he hoped his title challenge would provide the nation with a much-needed morale boost.

"My fellow citizens need something to help them escape from this very difficult time," he said. "I hope to bring some positivity, happiness and joy to them with this fight. I want to put pride in their hearts."

The 35-year-old Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs), who lives and trains in Montreal, is boxing's only current champion with a perfect knockout percentage. He unified the title by stopping Ukraine's previously unbeaten Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October.

If Top Rank goes ahead with fights in Florida, it's a safe bet Dana White's UFC would do likewise, even without crowds. Between fighters, trainers, referees, judges, television crews and other support staff, such events would still draw hundreds of participants.

DeSantis waited until early April to issue a stay-at-home order in Florida and, according to a memo circulated by the governor's office last Thursday, recent additions to the list of "essential services" in the state include "employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience". They are defined to include "any athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team and any others necessary to facilitate, including services supporting such production－only if the location is closed to the general public".

A spokesman for the governor told ESPN that such services were characterized as essential "because they are critical to Florida's economy".