Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin - 22 August 2020

[danconnollyeire]

Hearn's already said this won't open behind doors... it will be postponed...

Only fights behind doors will be lower level fights

[Ruthless-RKO]

Just to clarify, Matchroom have only cancelled/postponed March and April cards.. No mention on the May cards, including the 2 ppv's.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Eddie Hearn admits Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora may have to rearrange fights amid coronavirus pandemic

Eddie Hearn has placed doubts on both ​Dillian Whyte's and Dereck Chisora's upcoming bouts taking place as scheduled as the coronavirus outbreak continues to significantly impact the world of sport.

Whyte is due to face the stubborn Alexander Povetkin on May 2, while Chisora is set to face the former undisputed cruiserweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk on May 23.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday released a statement removing the government's support of mass gatherings and essentially ruling out any sporting events in the immediate future.

Hearn has previously dismissed the possibility that any bouts of this calibre will take place without fans and behind closed doors.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Hearn said: "We have Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin on 2 May, we have Oleksandr Usyk vs Dereck Chisora on 23 May, all of those events are subject to change right now.

"We hope that they won't need to be moved but we also understand this is constantly evolving."

Hearn also provided an update on Anthony Joshua's upcoming bout against Kubrat Pulev at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

He said: "For the Anthony Joshua fight, already there is potential plans to move the fight back to July, we do already have a date for that. But we hope June 20 will remain the date.

"At the moment it [Joshua vs Pulev] is still in place. But with the news of the Euros being cancelled and the possible extension of the Premier League season, Spurs may need that stadium, we don't know. We have the option to run that fight in July as well, at the same stadium."

[Ruthless-RKO]

Hearn saying if anything comes from the UKAD investigation, that Whyte will be made full champion.

But then I guess that depends on the WBC.

If UKAD do suspend Fury, he’ll just get a licence and carry on in the US won’t he?

[Coco]

Hearn saying if anything comes from the UKAD investigation, that Whyte will be made full champion.

But then I guess that depends on the WBC.

If UKAD do suspend Fury, he’ll just get a licence and carry on in the US won’t he?

Has Fury even got a British license?

It's good to see that at long last Hearn is coming down hard on drug cheats!!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Hearn saying if anything comes from the UKAD investigation, that Whyte will be made full champion.

But then I guess that depends on the WBC.

If UKAD do suspend Fury, he’ll just get a licence and carry on in the US won’t he?

Has Fury even got a British license?

It's good to see that at long last Hearn is coming down hard on drug cheats!!

After signing so many recently.

Hearn would love to sign Fury.

[mickey1975]

The evidence would be torn to pieces in court. It’s a non story.

[ewenhay]

Exactly. Just wishful thinking on some people's parts

[liamlion]

Hearn saying if anything comes from the UKAD investigation, that Whyte will be made full champion.

But then I guess that depends on the WBC.

If UKAD do suspend Fury, he’ll just get a licence and carry on in the US won’t he?

He didn’t quite sat that. His actual comments can be viewed on the Sky sports website: https://www.skysports.com/boxing/news/1 ... ddie-hearn

Eddie doesn’t run the WBC.

[DazBoxingFan]

BBBofC have cancelled all events until June.

Some may consider doing them behind closed doors.

Could just place it at York Hall, or if in Manchester still, then Victoria Warehouse. What would be the cost of hiring out the small venue, even though there will be no fans, is it worth it?

Where does it say that the BBBoC are suspended all shows until June? I looked on their website and it just shows the cancellations of march’s shows

[Ruthless-RKO]

BBBofC have cancelled all events until June.

Some may consider doing them behind closed doors.

Could just place it at York Hall, or if in Manchester still, then Victoria Warehouse. What would be the cost of hiring out the small venue, even though there will be no fans, is it worth it?

Where does it say that the BBBoC are suspended all shows until June? I looked on their website and it just shows the cancellations of march’s shows

Yeh, it's just March and April.

[DazBoxingFan]

Where does it say that the BBBoC are suspended all shows until June? I looked on their website and it just shows the cancellations of march’s shows

Yeh, it's just March and April.

Yeah you said in your comment that they’ve suspended all shows till June. So it’s till may then

[DazBoxingFan]

Also just looked and Mtk said they still have April shows possibly going ahead

[danconnollyeire]

Also just looked and Mtk said they still have April shows possibly going ahead

Yeah ok and the moons made of cheese

[margaret thatcher]

MTK show? Must mean Marcus McDonnell, Chas Coakley, and and Kieran McCann still get their monthly MTK cheques. Maybe they can turn in sh!t card remotely from home this time, though they probably still have to be prepared to travel for on call fluffing duty for Mr. VP Jamie Conlan and the MTK bois I guess

[Ruthless-RKO]

Povetkin Unable To Secure Franklin as Sparring Partner For Whyte

Former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin was unable to secure Jermaine Franklin as a sparring partner, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Povetkin is scheduled to face top contender Dillian Whyte on May 2 in Manchester - although the date is likely to get pushed back.

The Olympic gold medal winner wanted Franklin to mimic the style of Whyte, but the current travel restrictions have prevented Franklin from even entertaining the idea of heading over to Povetkin's camp.

Franklin's promoter, Dmitriy Salita, hopes to have his unbeaten prospect get some sparring time with Povetkin in the future.

"I feel Jermaine is the best American heavyweight and once he is fully developed, has the ability to be a heavyweight world champion," Salita told Sky Sports.

"Being in training camp with an experienced fighter like Povetkin, who is getting ready for a big fight versus Whyte, is a priceless experience for him. Jermaine has superb athleticism for a heavyweight. His talent is at least on par with Whyte."

Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs) was hoping to return on May 9th in Michigan, as part of the undercard to Claressa Shields vs. Marie Eve Dicaire - but the event was postponed on Thursday due to the ongoing pandemic.

"Jermaine is only 26 years old and will only get physically stronger," said Salita. "At that point, he will be ready for the elite."

As far as Povetkin vs. Whyte, promoter Eddie Hearn has a plan in place - if he needs to postpone the card - to push it back to June.

"We also understand that we have contingencies in place to move Dillian Whyte to the middle of June, to move Derek Chisora-Usyk back into the end of June, early July," Hearn said.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Dillian Whyte v Alexander Povetkin to be called off, says Eddie Hearn

Briton Dillian Whyte's heavyweight fight against Russian Alexander Povetkin will be called off because of coronavirus, says promoter Eddie Hearn.

Hearn is set to announce new details for the Manchester Arena event, scheduled for 2 May, which also includes Irish fighter Katie Taylor's world title bout against Cindy Serrano.

"We will make an announcement, but basically yes [it is off]," said Hearn.

The promoter added he hoped boxing would return in June.

"Whether that's behind closed doors at first, or whether that's back with small-hall shows, then we hope we can get to the bigger shows before the end of June," he explained.

Whyte drove 40 hours to a training camp in Portugal last week in the hope that the fight would go ahead.

The British Boxing Board of Control has suspended all events under its jurisdiction until the end of April.

[Ruthless-RKO]

In a predictable move, Matchroom Boxing has postponed their three cards in May, effecting Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin, Lee Selby vs. George Kambosos Jr, and Oleksander Usyk vs. Dereck Chisora.

The three Matchroom cards for May had to be rescheduled because of the COVID 19 pandemic, and there’s the possibility they could be postponed again.

These are the new dates for 2 of the 3 postponed cards@

Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin – July 4
Lee Selby vs. George Kambosos Jr – July 11

[margaret thatcher]

How much confidence can you have in any scheduled dates at this point

[oogiebe]

How much confidence can you have in any scheduled dates at this point

none

[DrDuke]

Another big and highly interesting bout is off. Why don't they organize bouts on closed venues? Is it worse, than nothing?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Dillian Whyte 'will fight behind closed doors' against Alexander Povetkin, says Eddie Hearn

"We have to come back with a bang!"

Dillian Whyte "will fight behind closed doors" against Alexander Povetkin, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.

Katie Taylor's undisputed lightweight title fight against Amanda Serrano, originally scheduled to be on the same bill, could remain alongside Whyte vs Povetkin without a live audience.

"A lot of people think it is difficult for bigger fights to happen behind closed doors," Whyte's promoter Eddie Hearn told The Boxing Show on Sky Sports.

"Whyte vs Povetkin is one of the fights we are planning to stage in the early part of the return, it will be take place behind closed doors.

"Dillian wasn't joking about fighting in a car park - it won't be in a car park!

"I don't know how we're going to do it yet. But we have to come back with a bang. Whyte vs Povetkin, along with Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano, is a fight that I believe we will see at the end of July or early-August."

Whyte is set to risk his status as WBC interim heavyweight champion and mandatory challenger to the belt held by Tyson Fury by taking on Povetkin, who has beaten David Price and Hughie Fury in the UK already.

Undefeated Irish phenomenon Taylor will take on the seven-weight world champion Serrano with every lightweight belt at stake.

"It's the biggest fight in women's boxing," Hearn said. "Looking at the achievements of Taylor and the growth of women's boxing? It's incredible.

"She is pound-for-pound one of the biggest superstars in the sport.

"I will try to make it happen on the Whyte vs Povetkin card somehow, somewhere, some way."

[oogiebe]

This will be interesting.

[maninthemiddle]

I’m sure Matchroom will be estimating figures of how you replace a 16-18k live gate paying an average of around £60-£70.
Generating around £960,000. If £20 cost of Ppv, original expectations could be around 100,000 so you would need an extra 48,000 PPV Buys to cover gate. This might be possible for the first big PPV but not many more..Overseas options with low Covid cases is surely more likely.

[GrassrootsMatt]

Does Whyte do big PPV buys anyway? Not seen any figures so I genuinely don't know.

Could we get individual 'fights' sponsored on the card as a way of raising purses?