It’s common in boxing for a fighter to have a delayed reaction after taking a precise hook to the body. That’s usually followed by another delay from the crowd as they attempt to process what just took place.
Eventually, the boxer crumbles to at least one knee and the crowd winces.
Shakur Stevenson landed a second pinpoint body shot – a counter left punch to the liver – before Felix Caraballo felt the brunt of the first, a devastating right hook.
No delays occurred in Stevenson’s somewhat historic knockout victory last month that capped boxing’s first notable event in the U.S. since the sport took a three-month hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Stevenson’s rapid body combination was immediately felt by Caraballo, who dropped to all fours. Stevenson knew he had delivered a special knockout, but he never heard that desired validation from the fans.
“You look for a crowd reaction when you throw something solid,” the WBO featherweight champion said last week. “There was no reaction, so that was kind of the weird part. It felt like sparring.”
This unique boxing event with no fans is no longer unique. It’s the new normal of fists flying inside the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, or better known as “The Bubble.”
Stevenson, 23, headlined the first boxing event in Las Vegas since the sports world paused, but his promoter, Top Rank, has been hosting multiple ESPN-televised events per week in the past month. Nine “bubble” events took place in June (two from Mexico City), with seven more scheduled this month, including Tuesday’s card headlined by junior lightweights Jamel Herring and Jonathan Oquendo. Top Rank has four events scheduled in August to conclude the summer series.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE
The inaugural “bubble” card on June 9 didn’t offer much excitement, with plenty of ring rust in a line of mismatches. It wasn’t until Stevenson landed his double body blows that boxing was truly back, a reminder of what the sweet science offers when accuracy and timing meet for the perfect punch.
The “bubble” summer series took off and hasn’t looked back since Adam Lopez and Luis Coria provided what most boxing fans want to see – a brawl, which fighters of Mexican heritage tend to do the best.
Lopez and Coria opened the second card June 11 with a back-and-forth slugfest, a bout Lopez referred to as the toughest of his career and left him with a swollen left eye in a majority-decision victory.
A handful of upsets have occurred, including Joshua Franco claiming the WBA super flyweight title over the previously undefeated Andrew Moloney, and Mike Plania stunning the up-and-coming Joshua Greer Jr. in a majority decision.
Inside Mexico City’s bubble, there was a mix of elegance and weirdness. A tuxedo-wearing ring announcer used a standing microphone to announce scorecards to the virtual fans on the ballroom screen while cameramen in hazmat suits stood at opposite corners.
The front-runner for knockout of the year occurred in Mexico City’s bubble after Sergio Sanchez connected on a left uppercut that froze Gustavo Pina before he tumbled backwards.
Top Rank’s “bubble” events have been a success, but they’ve come with many obstacles as they maneuver around coronavirus.
12TH FLOOR
Lopez, a Glendale native, arrived in Las Vegas four days before his fight, one of the many protocol requirements.
All fighters are required to be tested before checking into the MGM Grand and aren’t allowed to leave their room until receiving their results about 10 hours later. Lopez arrived late so he could go straight to bed.
He woke up to the news he had tested negative for coronavirus and was able to leave his room, but there weren’t many options for places to go. The 12th floor of the Strip hotel is where the fighters and their respective teams stay.
“We were cut off from the rest of the hotel,” Lopez, 24, said. “No one was allowed on the 12th floor, no one was allowed out of the 12th floor.”
The only time they’re allowed to leave is for food and training. The cafeteria and hotel ring are located at the nearby convention center.
Lopez said he wasn’t a fan of the cafeteria food because it didn’t follow his diet as he needed to cut weight to make the 126-pound limit for his featherweight bout. Top Rank allowed him to order room service. Other than that, Lopez didn’t have complaints and said he’d do a “bubble” fight again.
He’s just not looking forward to the three required tests – one a week before the fight, another upon arrival and the final test that comes after the weigh-in. Lopez said he got a nose-swab test a week before the fight and the other two in Las Vegas were throat swabs.
“The nose was definitely worse,” Lopez said. “That (expletive) hurt.”
At times, Lopez got restless during his four-day stay, but if he needed to clear his head, he grabbed his mask and roamed the hallways of the 12th floor.
Stevenson also made his own adjustments. The hotel gym wasn’t hot enough for him to lose weight, so he turned on the shower and blasted the heater in his room while he worked out.
“It was hard, but I made it work to the best of my ability,” Stevenson said. “It was like in the amateur days. We didn’t have gyms when we went to tournaments. We kinda made it work with what we had, and we trained outside at tournaments and same thing we were doing there. We trained in our hotel room. We would do all that.”
Top Rank has had to make a few adjustments to its bout sheets because of fighters testing positive. The first week had a rocky start after Mikaela Mayer tested positive May 29 and was pulled from her June 9 fight against Helen Joseph. Mayer, who said it was a false positive, has since tested negative and the fight has been rescheduled for Tuesday.
WHAT’S TO COME
Legendary promoter Bob Arum and his Top Rank team have made it work with their intimate-like events that have appealed to hardcore boxing fans, but in prizefighting, it’s about the money, and casual fans need to be included for that.
Boxing hasn’t had a marquee fight, and definitely not to the extent the UFC has provided MMA fans in recent months.
But Arum and Top Rank are planning for that in October with a lightweight title showdown between Teofimo Lopez and Vasiliy Lomachenko. Fans won’t be in attendance, but money can be made with the pay-per-view-worthy main event.
Arum told reporters he’s hoping to get some fans in December at the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the heavyweight trilogy bout between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.
In the coming weeks, Top Rank won’t be the only boxing promotional company hosting bouts. Golden Boy Promotions is scheduled to have the first boxing card in California since the hiatus, with rising welterweight Vergil Ortiz in the July 24 main event.
The Oscar De La Hoya-operated company is also discussing upcoming bouts for stars Canelo Alvarez and Victorville native Ryan Garcia.
It’s been a slow return for boxing, but the weekly entertainment inside Top Rank’s Vegas and Mexico City bubbles have filled the void for fight fans.
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