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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Tony Mogan

Matchroom and British Boxing Board of Control postpone upcoming fights due to coronavirus pandemic

The British Boxing Board of Control have cancelled all events under their jurisdiction due to the coronavirus pandemic until April at the earliest.

The governing body's decision following government's advice on Monday for people to avoid "non-essential" contact.

A statement released on Tuesday read: "With regard to the above [coronavirus] and the statement made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, all public tournaments under the jurisdiction of the British Boxing Board of Control are unfortunately cancelled.

"Further consideration of the matter will take place at the beginning of April."

The development immediately sees MTK's Golden Contract tournament, originally scheduled for Friday 20 March at York Hall, postponed.

Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing have also confirmed a number of their upcoming bouts scheduled for March and April have been moved.

Josh Kelly vs David Avanesyan, originally scheduled for 28 March at the O2 Arena, will now be merged with another card later in the year, along with its undercard that includes Conor Benn and Joshua Buatsi.

Lewis Ritson vs Miguel Vazquez, scheduled for 4 April, has now been moved to 27 June.

Terri Harper vs Natasha Jonas, a WBC and IBO world super-featherweight title clash, will be moved to a date still to be determined in June with its 24 April date also scrapped.

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