Eddie Hearn has confirmed Anthony Joshua's heavyweight title showdown with Kubrat Pulev will still go ahead as planned.
Unified champion Joshua was initially scheduled to defend his WBA (Super), WBO, IBF and IBO titles against the Bulgarian at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June.
The COVID-19 outbreak, however, put paid to those plans and the subsequent contingency plan for a July showdown.
Joshua's clash with Pulev, whom he was first meant to fight in October 2017, is slated to take place at London's O2 Arena on December 12.
Hearn had hoped to have some fans in attendance, although that plan has gone up in smoke following the government's decision to further delay large gatherings due to a steep rise in coronavirus cases.
The announcement came as a huge body blow to everyone at Matchroom Boxing, although it hasn't prompted Hearn to further delay the fight.
He told the Daily Mail: "Obviously today’s announcement is a massive challenge for everyone in sport.
"Our intention now is carry on with all our scheduled events."
Matchroom will be taking a huge financial hit by having Joshua fight behind closed doors, a fact Hearn is all too aware of.
"Clearly the finances are affected by not having crowds, even smaller crowds, but we’re working to keep our schedule," he said. "That includes Joshua.
"You have two options - cancel or go ahead, quite possibly without a crowd.
"You’d still hope that by December you might have some back but you can’t plan on that now.
"We’ll go ahead in December for Joshua because it’s been a year since he fought Andy Ruiz and he needs to fight."
Joshua, 30, hasn't fought since avenging his first professional defeat last December against Andy Ruiz Jr, whom he schooled for 12 rounds to reclaim the unified throne via unanimous decision.
