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Nick Parkinson
With boxing shut down due to restrictions in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus, fighters like Luke Campbell are training alone at home, waiting on news of when he will box again and helping home-school his children.
New guidelines set out by governments and states have forced people — including boxers — into new work patterns at their homes. Without the help of a nutritionist, strength and conditioning coach or trainer, Campbell has transformed his garage into a makeshift gym so he can continue training at his home in Hull, England.
Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs), 32, was supposed to be disputing the vacant WBC world lightweight title with Javier Fortuna, of the Dominican Republic, at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, United States, on April 17. But the Matchroom show will not take place then, and there is no news yet on when, or if, it will be rescheduled.
How do boxers like Campbell maintain fitness and skills ready to return to action on an as yet undetermined date?
“There’s no sparring obviously,” Campbell told ESPN.
“But I’ve got a few things in the garage that I can do. The thing with boxing is you can do it anywhere. If you have a punchbag you can hang it up and can even do it outside in the garden. You can shadow box and go for runs, but it’s the sparring and gym environment you miss out on.
“The nutrition side of it is hard because my next food delivery is in three weeks, so you have to ration your food. It’s hard to get the right sort of food at the moment.”
A big issue is motivation, and many boxers are training for a fight that does not have a date or venue confirmed yet.
“You’re in a bubble at the moment, and keeping your focus and discipline is difficult because we don’t know when this is going to end, when we will be fighting next.
“It’s hard because we are all in the unknown, no one knows how long this will be going on for and when we will be back to normal, and get back to the gym.
“It’s not clear yet if we will be told to stay at home beyond three weeks’ time. It’s a very strange time at the moment, but all the athletes have to keep disciplined.
“Things aren’t going to get back to normal straight away and the borders also have to open up because my fight was supposed to take place in the US, and there are no flights there at the moment from Europe.
“I believe some of the [boxing] events may take place behind closed doors. At least then we will get sports events out there and people will have something to watch. Fans and broadcasters are crying out for new material. I’m sure the promoters are on the phone to venues about dates.”
Campbell, a gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics who is looking to win his first world title as a professional, last fought against Vasiliy Lomachenko in August, when he lost to the brilliant Ukrainian on points for three versions of the world title.
There is a chance the coronavirus could keep Campbell waiting to fight again over a year since his last fight and, like many other boxers, he is closely monitoring the news and hoping for any update from promoter Eddie Hearn on when he might be fighting again.
While he waits, Campbell is helping out with his sons’ home schooling with wife Lynsey Kraanen.
“I don’t have a lot of time on my hands because my two sons are off school.
“Home schooling is so hard. Luckily my wife is intelligent and she has taken a lot of it on board, but the kids just want to mess around.”
Michael Conlan, a featherweight contender from Northern Ireland, has been making cheesecakes in his spare time, after his St Patrick’s Day fight against Belmar Preciado in New York was postponed on March 13.
Conlan posted a picture of his impressive work in the kitchen on social media, while former WBO world heavyweight titleholder Joseph Parker, from New Zealand, showed some slick footwork in a social media video of him dancing around the house which has received half a million views.
To everyone at Home and around the World, keep your families safe…..and remember to have FUN! 😁🙏🏼 #LoveActually 🎥 : #KerryRussellTV pic.twitter.com/CjYVjzbuTm
— Joseph Parker (@joeboxerparker) March 26, 2020
WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who has been linked to a third fight with American Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas on Oct. 3, posted a video on social media of him exercising by doing a series of lifts holding his wife Paris above his head in the living room.
Fury’s rival world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, the WBA-IBF-WBO king, is in self-isolation at home and has posted clips of himself home-schooling his son JJ. Joshua is waiting to learn if his next defence against Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, on June 20 will be moved to a later date in July or beyond.
Another British heavyweight Dillian Whyte drove 40 hours to Portugal to begin a training camp for a fight that was subsequently called off. Whyte was due to face Russia’s Alexander Povetkin in Manchester on May 2 but the British Boxing Board of Control further suspended professional boxing in the UK on Monday until the end of May.