Breaking: Dillian Whyte off November 21 show, will fight Fury or Povetkin next

In a conference call ostensibly to promote this Saturday’s Devin Haney vs Yuriorkis Gamboa world title fight (see, it worked), promoter Eddie Hearn faced the media over Zoom. As the first UK representative to ask a question, I deviated from topic (an Irish journo had already asked about Katie Taylor, so he had) to request an update on the November 21 Wembley Arena show. It was scheduled to be topped by Alexander Povetkin vs Dillian Whyte 2 and broadcast on Sky Sports Box Office. Unfortunately, Povetkin tested positive for Covid-19 this week and is out of the contest. Fighters including Dereck Chisora, Michael Hunter and Martin Bakole had offered to fill in for the Russian.

Hearn revealed that unless an unlikely deal can be arranged for Whyte to challenge WBC champion Tyson Fury on December 5, the Londoner would sit the rest of this year out and meet old foe Povetkin in 2021. He explains why in the full video.

The November 21 show, Hearn added, would go ahead as a non-ppv event on Sky, headlined by Conor Benn vs Sebastian Formella.