Heather Hardy got the news she feared Monday morning during this ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Bruce Silverglade, owner of the renowned Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, informed her that the gym is closing its doors.

It was part of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decree that gyms, casinos, bars, restaurants and movie theaters all be shut down as of 8 p.m. Monday night as a quarantine effort to fight the spread of COVID-19 throughout the state.

A longtime professional boxer, who has even dabbled in mixed martial arts over the last few years, Hardy has been training people at Gleason’s for about eight years. While her actual boxing bouts tender her bigger paychecks, it’s Hardy’s training that keeps her afloat. So, the news that the gym was closing was devastating.

“I am panicked,” Hardy, in tears, told DAZN News over the phone Monday afternoon. “I’ll be honest, I am panicked, but I’m still functional. When Bruce told me this morning that Gleason’s is closing, I fell on the floor and cried because I don’t know how I’m going to take care of my family.

“A lot of times, my fights will help me pay some late bills, allow me to treat my daughter to things we normally wouldn’t be able to afford. But my day-to-day job is what keeps the lights on,” she continued. “I train for fights and still teach my clients because I rely on them so heavily. It’s going to be a hard transition not fighting and not having that good paycheck.

“To even imagine not having my regular business training …”

Like many New Yorkers — and people around the world — Hardy is out of work due to the restrictions and bans made in response to the global pandemic. The timing is far from ideal, as the 38-year-old single mom just moved to a new building in her native Brooklyn with her 15-year-old daughter, Annie. Hardy said she had two big training accounts put on hold, as she teaches the New York City District Attorney’s office and was getting ready to coach for corporate fighting.

“That was guaranteed income that I was counting on that was completely cut off,” Hardy said.

“It’s terrifying. I’m a single mom. It’s my job to take care of my kid and it was scary enough, the state that boxing has been in for the past month. And then to shut down shows for two months to know that there will be no boxing or MMA … I mean, I could pretty much wave off getting a fight in 2020 in either sport because of the backlog of just canceled fights.

“And to add on top of that, the gyms are now closed, we can’t leave the house … I mean, I don’t have the luxury of vacation pay or sick days,” she continued. “I’m going to have no income. I have to get really creative over the next probably two months.”

Thinking on her feet and having to improvise like she does in the ring, Hardy has already posted on her new residence’s community board that she’s available for training.

“Hopefully everybody isn’t going to be on lockdown and will be looking for some physical fitness,” she said. “Hopefully I could make some money around my building teaching classes — in the lobby, hallways. I’m looking to do some teaching online perhaps. I haven’t given it as much thought as I should have because the thought of a lockdown or shutdown didn’t really become apparent until two days ago. It’s frantic.”

Throughout her career, Hardy has been an advocate to bridge the wage gap between women and men boxers. Many male boxers also train clients full-time to get by. However, when those same men climb boxing’s rungs, their pay increases significantly. The same can’t be said for women boxers in the U.S. Had a decorated fighter like Hardy (22-1, 4 KOs in boxing; 2-2 in MMA) received significant paydays, perhaps she’d have more of a cushion to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The issue in boxing speaks as a microcosm to the bigger picture in the U.S., where on average, women working full-time earn 80.7 cents for every dollar a man working full-time yields, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Hardy's longtime promoter, Lou DiBella, has also advocated for equal pay and has offered his support to Heather.

“He said, 'If you need anything, I’m a call away,'" Hardy said.

DiBella additionally tweeted about how the coronavirus has affected fighters like Hardy.

A good percentage of fighters I know can’t afford to spend good money on stupid shit. They live hand to mouth to chase their dreams. They’re working class warriors and they are the backbone of #boxing . Those are the men and women I’m feeling for. — Lou DiBella (@loudibella) March 17, 2020

Hardy speaks for many in saying she hopes she finds a way through this trying time.

“I’m trying to take a few steps and trying to troubleshoot some ways that I could keep afloat, but how could you not panic?” she asked.

She pauses for a moment, before continuing, in attempt to further put things in perspective.

“We have to be really kind to each other and understand that for as little as we feel we have, there are people who have less than us. How can we help people with less than us? We start from the top, so that we can all make it to the other side … and rebuild together.”