![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Randy-RSR-186x300.jpg\")
<\/a>By Randy \u201cThe Commish\u201d Gordon<\/strong><\/p>\nBack in early January, when we were still saying \u201cHappy New Year\u201d to one another, 2020 seemed as if it was going to be such a promising year. For boxing fans, their sport seemed poised on a readiness to have its biggest calendar year in decades. Then\u2026COVID-19.<\/p>\n
The USA shut down. No schools. No businesses. No restaurants. No boxing.<\/p>\n
We were told by the White House, \u201cThis will disappear like a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winter 2020 came and went. COVID-19 came and stayed. Still, there was no help from the White House. There was no help from an elected leader who can\u2019t lead.<\/p>\n
Winter turned into Spring. Schools were still closed. So was everything else, including the eyes of the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s under control,\u201d we were told.<\/p>\n
It absolutely was under control. In places like my home, it was under control. That\u2019s because I wasn\u2019t going out, other than for an early morning jog or for a drive with my wife on a normally packed, but now deserted Long Island Expressway.<\/p>\n
As Summer approached, COVID-19\u2019s intensity and ferocity increased. I mourned as I lost friend after friend in boxing (writer Ron Ross, trainer Jimmy Glenn, cornerman Nelson Cuevas, and referee Eddie Cotton).<\/p>\n
I knew the only way to bring an end to the virus was to keep myself from being its next host, its next victim. I stayed locked in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get back to work,\u201d said the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n
Summer began and boxing returned, thanks to the diligent efforts of Hall-of-Famer Bob Arum and his promotional company, Top Rank. Working (gloved) hand in (gloved) hand with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the MGM Grand Hotel Casino, they came up with a way boxing could return in medical safety. There would be no fans in attendance, and all involved (fighters, corner people, commission members, the television crew, security and promotional team members) would be temperature-checked, thoroughly tested, masked, and kept in their rooms until it was time to move into \u201cThe Bubble\u201d\u2014the convention room turned into a makeshift arena, open only to those who are medically-cleared.<\/p>\n
As the Summer wore on, many states used the same beliefs as Top Rank used in its medical protocol for its fights and as states such as New York used: People wore masks. They kept their distance. They stayed out of crowds. Many other states listened to the White House.
\n\u201cOpen up, get back to work,\u201d was the directive from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.<\/p>\n
Georgia did so. Arizona did so. Florida did so. Iowa did so. Iowa\u2019s COVID-19 numbers climbed after they did. Iowa even allowed a crowd of around 3,000 mainly-unmasked fans to attend a fight in Davenport on July 18. It\u2019s no surprise the number of positive cases for COVID-19 in the state is climbing. For that, they have their Governor, Kim \u201cKOVID\u201d Reynolds to thank.<\/p>\n
Now, as the Summer of 2020 heads into its back half, the USA is still battling COVID-19, the disease the White House told us months ago would \u201cgo away as fast as it came\u201d is still out of control in many states. There have been nearly 5 million U.S. cases and close to 160,000 deaths.
\nAs our President recently said, in typical Donald Trump style: \u201cIt is what it is!\u201d<\/p>\n
With that, I turn my attention to boxing, which, along with my family, friends and colleagues, gives me the exact opposite amount of feeling I have for the un-Presidential man who has, almost single-handedly, brought back the \u201cSpanish Flu of 1918,\u201d the Great Depression of 1929 and the race riots of 1968.<\/p>\n
Now, let\u2019s talk boxing.<\/p>\n
Since Bob Arum brought boxing back to us June 9 on his Summer Series on ESPN, we\u2019ve also been treated to boxing events on ESPN+, DAZN and Showtime (which has an exciting Fall season of fanless bouts lined up from the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT).<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve seen the continued development of welterweight Vergil Ortiz and former featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson; the long-awaited arrival of lightweight Felix Verdejo; and been dazzled by hard-hitting super middleweight Edgar Berlanga and heavyweight Jared Anderson.
\nAs the first year of the new decade heads into its final 4\u00bd months, here is what I see happening\u2014in and around boxing\u2014down the road.<\/p>\n
I may be wrong, but:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u2022 Both of the Charlo Brothers will be fighting on a Showtime doubleheader on September 26. One of them will lose. See ya\u2019 next week.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Be Safe…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n [si-contact-form form=’2′]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [AdSense-A] By Randy \u201cThe Commish\u201d Gordon Back in early January, when we were still saying \u201cHappy New Year\u201d to one another, 2020 seemed as if it was going to be such a promising year. For boxing fans, their sport seemed poised on a readiness to have its biggest calendar year in decades. Then\u2026COVID-19. The USA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22669,22952],"class_list":["post-91296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-randys-ringside-on-ringside-report-covid-19","tag-boxing-donald-trump-must-go"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91296"}],"version-history":[{"count":-1,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 Unless it\u2019s like pro-wrestling (totally scripted), somebody is going down on a PPV show in September 12 in California. That somebody won\u2019t be Mike.
\n\u2022 The IBHOF should include the name of Junior Jones on its ballot. If not this year, next year.
\n\u2022 The New York State Boxing Hall of Fame MUST include trainer Freddie Brown on its list for inclusion next year.
\n\u2022 Vasily Lomachenko Vs Teofimo Lopez (V-Lo v T-Lo) WILL take place in 2020
\n\u2022 V-Lo v T-Lo will be \u201cFight of the Year.\u201d
\n\u2022 The much-talked-about rebirth and resurrection of a decades-old boxing magazine will not happen.
\n\u2022 Tyson Fury Vs Deontay Wilder III will fall apart waiting for COVID-19 to end. It will have to wait until 2021.
\n\u2022 After successfully defending his WBC Featherweight Title last February, Gary \u201cOnce a Year\u201d Russell, JR. said he wanted to fight \u201ctwo or three more times in 2020.\u201d My guess is he stays on his one fight a year diet.
\n\u2022 Devin Haney will make another head-shaking remark in 2020.
\n\u2022 Edgar Berlanga will make it 17 straight first-round KO\u2019s in his next fight.
\n\u2022 DAZN will be forced to re-structure
\n\u2022 One day, the DAZN blow-by-blow announcer will learn how to pronounce one of the names of a DAZN on-air colleagues. The DAZN bxb guy said that DAZN\u2019s boxing show\u2014heard daily on SiriusXM, was hosted by \u201cAy Kay & Barak.\u201d I hope someone told him it\u2019s not \u201cAy Kay,\u201d but \u201cOck,\u201d as in \u201cRock.\u201d (SMH!)
\n\u2022 A big future awaits 24-year-old Jr. Welterweight Elvis Rodriguez. He\u2019s 8-0 with eight knockouts. A Top Rank prospect, he\u2019ll be going for victory number 9 at the end on August.
\n\u2022 Floyd Mayweather, JR., Wladimir Klitschko, Miguel Cotto, Andre Ward and James Toney will all be on the IBHOF ballot for induction into the Class of 2021. Only four of them will make it in.
\n\u2022 Jamie Foxx will get rave reviews of his portrayal of Mike Tyson in the upcoming movie, \u201cFinding Mike.\u201d
\n\u2022 Dillian White will beat Alexander Povetkin on August 22.
\n\u2022 Dillian Whyte will still get messed around with in his totally deserved, earned and promised shot at the title.
\n\u2022 Daniel Dubois will beat Joe Joyce when they meet later in the Fall.
\n\u2022 If the BBBofC doesn\u2019t allow a crowd to be on hand, there will be no Dubois-Joyce fight.
\n\u2022 Tim Bradley will continue to abuse the fictitious term, \u201cCheck Hook.\u201d
\n\u2022 Gerry Cooney\u2019s birthday is August 24, NOT August 4th. I believe it was just corrected in Boxrec.
\n\u2022 I will finish writing \u201cGlove Story\u201d by the end of the year.
\n\u2022 COVID-19 will still be here when the Summer of 2020 ends.
\n\u2022 Donald Trump will not win the election on November 3.
\n\u2022 Donald Trump will be a sore-loser in the face of defeat.
\n\u2022 Donald Trump will become a boxing promoter after leaving the White House.
\n\u2022 No fighters will sign a promotional deal with him.<\/p>\n