Once the coronavirus pandemic is contained enough to allow sports to return, boxing promoters will look to put shows on as soon as possible.

However, as long as the sport is shuttered amid the global crisis promoters are unable to keep their fighters busy or generate any revenue. At least the biggest promoters know that when fights resume – even if they have to do so without crowds (and accompanying ticket sales) – there will be money from lucrative broadcast contracts to help ease the pain. Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy have deals with DAZN, Top Rank with ESPN and Premier Boxing Champions with Fox and Showtime.

But the smaller promoters, who don’t have those contracts and rely so heavily on their gates, are in a more difficult position.

“It’s decimated my business,” said Star Boxing promoter Joe DeGuardia, who has about 30 fighters under contract. “We can’t do any shows. We have postponed four shows already. We had significant fights lined up for our guys, (light heavyweight) Joe Smith, (heavyweight) Carlos Takam and (junior welterweight) Cletus Seldin. I had good fights for these guys that were culmination of a lot work and now? Who knows?”

Added promoter Lou DiBella: “I’m completely shut down, but so is everyone else. We are months away from getting back to active boxing in my view. We’re not getting back to normal probably this year so I have no idea the next time there will be a ‘Broadway Boxing’ and I can safely sell tickets in New York. I am not anticipating in a best-case scenario more than one or two ‘Broadway Boxing’ shows for the remainder of the year and I usually do about 10 a year.”

DeGuardia, who estimates boxing’s shutdown has cost his company hundreds of thousands of dollars, had to cancel shows April 17 and June 19 at Resorts World in Monticello, New York, and May 8 and July 17 at Paramount in Huntington, New York.

“Everybody is in the same boat,” DeGuardia said. “But whenever there’s a storm, sooner or later the sun comes out and it clears up, whether it’s for boxing or the world in general. These are tough times not just for boxing. It’s hard to talk about our industry and the tough times when people are dying. You have to be realistic and just try to get back but when it’s safe.”

Alex Camponovo, the vice president and matchmaker for Orange, California-based Thompson Boxing, typically puts on 12 to 14 cards per year but has already canceled at least four.

“The fighters are getting anxious because probably 90 percent rely on their purses as paychecks,” Camponovo said. He also has a staff of eight he is worried about.

“There has to be a way for me to pay them and take care of them while this lasts,” said Camponovo, who promotes fighters such as former unified junior featherweight world titlist Daniel Roman and prospects Ruben Villa and Michael Dutchover. “I think we’re going to be OK. Hopefully, we’ll be back by September. But right now, everything has stopped. We’re not generating any money but we’re not spending. We’re just protecting the people who rely on our paycheck. I feel for everybody. It’s terrible.”

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DiBella’s business has also been dramatically impacted. He has had to cancel three cards – a March 19 “Broadway Boxing” due to stream on UFC Fight Pass and a pair of “ShoBox: The New Generation” cards on Showtime: April 11 headlined by junior middleweight prospect Charles Conwell and a June 12 card at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, that was to coincide with the now-postponed annual International Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend in nearby Canastota.

In addition, DiBella has seen many of his key fighters have bouts on cards he was not the lead promoter for also postponed.

1. On April 17, Regis Prograis was due to face fellow former junior welterweight titlist Maurice Hooker in a major DAZN main event with former unified junior welterweight titlist Julius Indongo due to meet welterweight prospect Daniyar Yeleussinov on the undercard.

2. Junior welterweight Sonny Fredrickson was slated to face Alex Saucedo on ESPN+ on the April 25 Naoya Inoue-John Riel Casimero undercard.

3. Amanda Serrano was supposed to challenge undisputed women’s lightweight world champion Katie Taylor on May 2.

4. Lightweight contender George Kambosos Jr. was due to face Lee Selby in a world title elimination bout on May 9.

“I want everybody to be optimistic and hope for the best, but nobody is fighting in April, May or June and if people don’t want to admit that now they’re doing a disservice,” said DiBella, who promotes about 70 fighters and who has been forced to furlough his handful of boxing employees in addition to dozens of others who work for the two minor league baseball teams he owns.

“The most stressful thing for any promoter is uncertainty. It’s the most stressful thing for any human being. We are all living through the greatest period of uncertainty in our lifetime. As a promoter without a (regular broadcast) platform the level of uncertainty is huge. Obviously, it’s an advantage for Top Rank, Golden Boy, Eddie Hearn and PBC because they have deals with major corporate entities with deep pockets and contracts, so they know there is money coming in once this is over.”

DiBella, who estimates that his losses on postponed cards and fights has cost him well in excess of $500,000, had company attorney Alex Dombroff send each DiBella Entertainment fighter a letter trying reassure the boxers that he would try to reschedule their fights as soon as possible and informing them of their ability to potentially collect unemployment benefits due to the federal stimulus bill recently put in place.

DiBella also told his fighters he would consider interest-free loans of up to $2,500 for any of his fighters who had not boxed yet this year to help tide them over.

“Those little loans are basically personal loans because a lot of the fighters have to worry about money, about feeding their kids,” DiBella said. “They’re part of our DBE family I feel a responsibility to help them get through this time. Their livelihood is boxing and right now there is no boxing.

“I’m not feeling sorry for myself. I’m grateful that I don’t have to worry about putting food on the table or paying my mortgage. I worry about my fighters and my staff. I’m not laying anyone off but I am furloughing a large number of my employees (in boxing and baseball). If I started figuring out exactly how much this is costing me, I would drive myself crazy. Right now I’m just trying to weather the storm because the earliest I will see a dollar from boxing is August and I’m not counting on that either. I’m preparing for a scenario where there is no meaningful revenue until the fall.”

Promoter Michelle Rosado, better known as “Raging Babe,” promotes regularly at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, where she typically sells out the 1,200-seat venue with even-money fights and was planning four shows this year. She was quite proud of her June 19 “Philly Special” card due to be headlined by an all-Philly rivalry fight between lightweights Stevie Ortiz and Damon Allen. But that will have to wait. It has is postponed, leaving Rosado out a variety of costs already incurred for the event.

“Boxing is my only gig. If I don’t have a good live gate or sponsors I’m gonna get hurt. On this postponement I did take a blow,” said Rosado, who added that she’s secured potential dates at the arena to reschedule later in the year.

“Certain money I’m never gonna get back – advertising, marketing money, paying staff and some miscellaneous stuff, like creating artwork. That all costs money. The up-front cash came out of my bank account and I’m out thousands and thousands of dollars, I’m probably out about $8,500. For a small guy like me that’s huge. That’s just coming out of my pocket. Say, I would make maybe $18,000 of the show. Well that’s down now to $10,000. But I’m conservative. I got that from (mentor and Hall of Famer) Russell Peltz. When I make money off my shows, I save it. I plan and I’m always investing into the next show. I’m not buying Louis Vuitton bags.”

Rosado also makes ends meet by working on shows for Top Rank and DiBella, but knows it’s going to be a tough year.

“If I had to guess, my margin on this (postponed June show) is probably going to be 10 percent now, if not less, which is really low and this is all I do for a living,” she said. “So, this is a big hit for me. But I am staying positive. It’s a terrific show and I know people will show up whenever it happens. You take your losses like you take your wins. That’s what Russell taught me. If I break even I will be happy. My sponsors have reached out and said they’re on board when the next one does happen. That’s all I can ask for.

“I’ve been in communication with all the fighters. We keep each other motivated. As long as I can pay the rent and have food in the fridge I am OK.”

Dan Rafael was ESPN.com's senior boxing writer for fifteen years, and covered the sport for five years at USA Today. He was the 2013 BWAA Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism.