Alexander Povetkin vs. Dillian Whyte 2 Will Not Happen In January

Alexander Povetkin still hasn’t recovered from COVID-19, so his rematch with Dillian Whyte won’t happen in January.

Back in August, Povetkin shook things up in the heavyweight division. He scored an upset fifth-round TKO victory over Whyte to capture the interim WBC Heavyweight Title. Whyte had an immediate rematch clause in his contract, so he is exercising his right for another title bout.

The roadblock in making the rematch happen has to do with Povetkin’s positive COVID-19 test. That pushed the bout back to January. Unfortunately for Povetkin, he still hasn’t recovered from the coronavirus.

Povetkin’s promoter, Andrey Ryabinsky, told TASS that his fighter won’t be taking on Whyte in January (via BoxingScene.com).

“Alexander had to go to hospital again for examinations. The other day he was discharged and is now starting training. We’ll increase the workload in stages, under the supervision of doctors. Boxing is a serious load on the body, I won’t allow Alexander’s health to be risked. There will be no fight with Whyte in January. We underestimated the consequences of the virus, everything did not go as smoothly as we thought…

“We will discuss and appoint the date of the fight when we understand at what pace we can move with preparation.”

Povetkin has gone 2-1-1 in his last four outings. The loss was against current WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua. The wins were against Whyte and Hughie Fury, with the draw coming against Michael Hunter.

As for Whyte, he was riding an 11-fight winning streak before running into Povetkin. It was Whyte’s first loss since December 2015 when he was stopped by Joshua.