Graham Boylan: Cage Warriors will not put on fights until ‘restrictions are lifted’
Cage Warriors president Graham Boylan revealed last week that he had secured a private location to host multiple events, but the Irish promoter has underlined that doesn’t have any intention of staging any shows until the coronavirus restrictions are eased in the U.K.
Clarifying the information that he posted via social media, Boylan explained how he felt that the news was misinterpreted, as many felt as though the promotion were attempting to stage the events as soon as possible.
Arena shows with fans I don’t believe will happen for months, that won’t stop the team & I providing a platform for our fighters to compete. Private location sorted to hold multiple @CageWarriors fight cards. I’l push the button when the time is right & the fighters are ready
— Graham Boylan ☘️ (@GrahamBoylan) April 7, 2020
“I think when we put that out there, it was taken a little bit out of context,” Boylan told MMA Fighting’s Eurobash podcast.
“I think the words were, ‘when the time is right,’ in that message. We do have a location - I have two locations that I could use and they will be used when the time is right. What happens on social media these days is, it’s taken out of context; it’s read wrong, it’s not read in full. We have two locations, they will be used when the time is right.”
With coronavirus restrictions currently forcing a halt to events, Boylan is adamant that he has no plans to stage a fight card during the current phase and will only look to stage a show when the situation changes.
“The time being right is when restrictions are lifted,” he explained. “People can actually work right now. If you cannot work from home, you can go to work. Fighters can’t work from home, can they? What are we going to do, send a fighter to another fighters house to say, ‘I’m going to fight you later?’ and then we’ll send a cameraman to film it? Fighters have to go somewhere to work. I know it’s not a key job, but it’s their work. At the end of the day, when restriction are lifted and people can move around, we’ll put shows on when the fighters are ready.”
The Cage Warriors president also highlighted that fighters would have to be ready to compete, which is not a given due to gyms being closed at the moment.
“The fighters have to be ready for these shows to go on. With gyms closed and fighters not able to mix with other fighters to get their sparring in...it’s going to take a bit of time. So, when the time is right, we will pull the trigger.”
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