Quebec boxing promoters had a start to the week at the antipodes. While Eye of the Tiger Management (EOTTM) has been forced to postpone its January 22 event, Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) is awaiting a government decision for its January 29 gala.
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On Tuesday, via his Twitter account, promoter Yvon Michel announced that his boxing card would be presented as planned at the Casino de Montreal. However, there is a caveat.
“We must obtain the agreement of the Ministry of Health and Social Services to seal our gala,” said Yvon Michel during an interview with the Journal de Montréal. The approval of the Casino managers was obtained to open the cabaret room even though the casino was still closed at that time.
“Then, we obtained the sanction of the Régie and the support of all our partners so that our gala is profitable.”
A priority ?
Of course, there is Public Health and the sanitary protocol to be respected.
“The only thing that is different from the previous protocol is the presence of spectators,” added Michel. Our event should be presented behind closed doors.
“We are ready to respect all requests from Public Health. We have proven ourselves since the start of the pandemic. We have had 250 PCR tests since returning from our galas. Only one came back positive and the fight was called off. “
The ball is now in the court of the Ministry of Health and Public Health. Is a closed-door boxing gala a priority for government officials as the Omicron wave undermines the healthcare system? To ask the question, is to answer it.
At the same time, if the Canadian can present matches behind closed doors at the Bell Center, why would a professional boxing promoter be refused a gala under the same conditions?
Yvon Michel has not set a deadline for the possible delivery of his gala.
“It is Bernard Barré who will take care of the file,” he said. We would like to have an answer before the end of the week or at the beginning of the next one.
“If we accept a refusal from the ministry, we will comply with the decision, but it will have to be the same for everyone.”
Domino effect
Meanwhile, promoter Camille Estephan had no choice but to postpone his gala from January 22 to February 19. Then, his fights of February 19 were postponed to March 3.
Ultimately, only the March 26 gala was not affected in the process. We remember that EOTTM announced the presentation of three galas during the first three months of 2022.
“Tuesday was a crucial day for our January 22 gala,” said Estephan. Since we had no response from Public Health, we had no choice but to postpone our event. That’s a shame.
“Then I tried to organize two galas in as many days (February 18 and 19), but our request was refused, said Estephan. The Régie told me that the time between two galas should be five days. ”