COVID-19: British Boxing Board of Control suspends all boxing in January
The British Boxing Board of Control has announced that it has suspended all boxing because of the increase in Covid-19 cases; Josh Kelly's fight against David Avanesyan in their European title fight on January 30 has been postponed, live on Sky Sports.
Last Updated: 04/01/21 8:36am
Josh Kelly's European title fight against David Avanesyan has been postponed after the British Boxing Board of Control suspended all boxing in January because of the increase in Covid-19 cases.
The organisation which oversees professional boxing in Britain announced a shutdown of all events under its auspices in January because of the serious rise in coronavirus cases in the UK.
BBBC released a statement saying: "Following the increase in Covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom and the effects such increases have on the NHS and the work of the Board Medical Officers, it has been decided that no tournaments under the jurisdiction of the British Boxing Board of Control will take place in January 2021.
"A further review by the Board's Medical Panel and Stewards will take place later in January in relation to tournaments from February onwards."
The biggest fight affected by the suspension is Josh Kelly's European title fight against David Avanesyan which was due to take place on January 30, live on Sky Sports.
Matchroom Boxing confirmed the fight was postponed and say they will announce a rescheduled date for the highly anticipated fight as soon as possible.
The pair were due to meet in their European title fight as the welterweight rivals looked to settle their long-running feud but the fight will now take place at a later date following the BBBC decision.
Avanesyan and his team had already vented their frustration ahead of a rescheduled fight on March 2020 at The O2 in London, which was called off again due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Sunderland fighter was originally set to fight Avanesyan in Sheffield back in December 2018, but an illness forced Kelly to withdraw on the morning of the fight.
