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Nick Parkinson
Promoter Frank Warren expects to announce later this week the first professional boxing show in the U.K. since sport was shut down in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Live boxing will resume in the U.K. in July, but initially without crowds.
The event, expected to be staged at BT Sport Studios in east London, will be shown on BT Sport in the U.K., and on ESPN+ in the U.S.
“We’re looking to start the second week of July and we are going to kick off with British title fights and then do a show every week,” Warren told ESPN.
“After six shows we will see whether we will do more shows behind closed doors or if something gets lifted by then and we can do shows before the general public again.
“We could do it [boxing behind closed doors] tomorrow. One thing we have had a lot of recently is time, so we have been able to prepare for it. We have worked very hard on it and the British Boxing Board of Control has been very good.”
Warren’s Queensbury Promotions might know when it will be staging live events again, but there is still some doubt as to when we will see the much-anticipated showdown between unbeaten British heavyweights Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce.
Warren has had to put back the fight from April, and then July.
“We have pushed the date back to the autumn, we don’t want to cancel it and I desperately want to get it on, and hopefully we will know where we are with that soon,” Warren said.
“If we have a problem with it, they [Dubois, Joyce] will have to make a decision on whether they want to box behind closed doors or wait. Boxers at certain stages of their careers don’t want to box behind closed doors and I understand that but at the moment I can’t tell them when they can fight again in front of fans.”