November 3, 2020
LONDON (Reuters) – A WBC interim heavyweight rematch between Alexander Povetkin and Britain’s Dillian Whyte has been postponed to January after the Russian was admitted to hospital with COVID-19, promoter Eddie Hearn said on Tuesday.
‘Body Snatcher’ Whyte was knocked out by 41-year-old Povetkin, the 2004 Olympic super-heavyweight gold medallist, in the fifth round of their fight in London last August.
The rematch was scheduled for Nov. 21 behind closed doors at London’s Wembley Arena.
“Unfortunately we got the news today that Alexander Povetkin is in hospital after testing positive for COVID-19. The fight will now be rescheduled to a target date of Jan 30,” Hearn said on Twitter.
Povetkin fought Britain’s Anthony Joshua for the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles at Wembley stadium in 2018 and was stopped in the seventh round.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
