Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn has given an important update about the sport of boxing in the UK. With an increase in cases and a new variant of COVID-19, the UK government called for another lockdown, and the BBBofC has halted all boxing activity in the country. As things stand, it does not look good for the sport.
The situation was on the up when 1000 fans were in attendance for the Joshua-Pulev fight. However, it has now taken a step back, with the postponement of the David Avanesyan vs Josh Kelly event.
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Michael Benson from TalkSPORT reported the news on his Twitter. He wrote, “Eddie Hearn has confirmed that David Avanesyan vs Josh Kelly has been postponed after the BBBofC suspended all UK boxing in January due to the pandemic.”
Eddie Hearn has confirmed that David Avanesyan vs Josh Kelly has been postponed after the BBBofC suspended all UK boxing in January due to the pandemic. He said they will restart in February, hopefully in the UK, but fights could be moved abroad if necessary.
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) January 3, 2021
Benson added, “He said they will restart in February, hopefully in the UK, but fights could be moved abroad if necessary.”
This gave fans some hope that boxing events would return to British shores. However, it indicated that contingency plans were in place.
READ: Eddie Hearn Teases a Massive Fight Between Canelo Alvarez vs Billy Joe Saunders
This is the second Eddie Hearn has had to postpone the fight
Eddie Hearn first planned to host the event in March 2020. However, the pandemic hit and shut down all sporting activity. The fighters got some good news in December when Hearn revealed they would fight in Jan.
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For fans, this is frustrating news because not only will they have to wait to see Josh Kelly take on David Avanesyan, it also means that if the sport returns, it will not have fans in attendance. Thus, British boxing fans will hope that the sport returns sooner rather than later.
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READ: Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury Still Have Hurdles to Overcome – Reveals Eddie Hearn