Frank Warren announces five shows with BT Sport which will see return of Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois
Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and broadcast partner BT Sport will on Friday night deliver the first boxing show in the UK since March 7 and the Covid-19 lockdown intervened.
The five fights will be behind closed doors, with just 65 people allowed inside the broadcaster’s studios.
Warren on Thursday confirmed four further boxing shows would take place over the next seven weeks, including the return of rising heavyweight prospects Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois, who will each headline events.
Warren, 68, said he will not be attending the first event at BT Sport’s cavernous studios in Stratford, due to the reduced numbers permitted inside “the boxing bubble”. The 10 boxers, plus trainers, cornermen, medical staff, Boxing Board of Control officials and television crew have been rigorously tested for Covid-19 this week before going into quarantine at a nearby London hotel.
“We are limited for space and numbers inside the studio, so I will be watching from home with a camera set up there for my reactions. I won’t argue about it, and I’m not going to let my ego get in the way of us doing the right thing,” explained Warren, who has been involved in the sport for over four decades.
“I don’t know if this has been the most challenging process ever – I’ve been shot and had fights with people – but it has been challenging in that we have been in a no-man’s land because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Who would have thought, when Tyson Fury fought in Las Vegas in February, that five months later we would have been out of action for over 100 days and we would be putting on shows with no crowds.
“But what we are attempting to do is put on boxing again as quickly and as safely as possible. It is an expensive process, we have gone over the testing and cleaning in minute detail, and we are determined.”
Friday night's headline contest sees British and Commonwealth super-bantamweight champion Brad Foster defend his titles against unbeaten James Beech Jnr.
Further events are planned at the BT Sport studios on July 25, July 31, Aug 20 and Aug 29, with five bouts on each card.
Foster headlined the last card to take place in the UK, and the unbeaten champion, who has worked night shifts at Tesco while training every day during lockdown, said on Thursday : “I’m just excited to get in there. I fought at the end of February in the last card and July’s come round and I’m back out again.
“Not many people get that turnaround [even] without being in a pandemic, and I’ve got it while we are in a pandemic. I’m blessed to be in this situation.”
The former kick boxer, unbeaten as a professional boxer, said: “A lot of people have asked me about no crowd. I get in the ring to win the fight, whether there’s a crowd there or not. The job is still the same. My opponent Beech is a good fighter. I know he’ll be coming to win because he’s got nothing to lose. That’s why I’ve got to be on top of my game and I will be. I am pledging to deliver a spectacular fight.
“Look how much people have missed the football. I’m privileged to be the first fight back. This is an opportunity for me to shine and show the world. There will be loads of people tuning in. Thanks to Uncle Frank and his team for making it happen.”
It was confirmed this week that no professional boxers were tested by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) between April and June this year as part of reduced testing because of the pandemic, but Robert Smith, Boxing Board general secretary, confirmed on Thursday that the boxers taking part would be tested on Friday, although he said they were disappointed that no testing had taken place during the lockdown period.
“Were under the impression that there would be tests, just a reduced number,” he added.
Ukad carried out only 126 tests in the three-month period across sports in the UK, compared to 2,212 in the same quarter last year. Football accounted for 84 of the 126.
Warren still aims to have the vaunted heavyweight fight between Dubois and Joyce in an arena on Oct 24. “Daniel and Joe returning is obviously huge news and scheduling these fights reflects our growing confidence that Daniel and Joe will be able to finally square off on Oct 24. They both wanted these tune-up fights first.”
Dubois meets Russian-born two-time Olympian Erik Pfeifer (7-0, 5 KO’s) on Aug 29, with the Londoner’s WBO international heavyweight title on the line. Joyce, meanwhile, takes on German heavyweight Michael Wallisch (20-3, 13 KO’s) in a 10-round contest on July 25.
Meanwhile, Katie Taylor will defend her WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine lightweight world titles against Delfine Persoon in a rematch on Saturday August 22, live on Sky Sports Box Office, it was confirmed on Thursday by promoter Eddie Hearn.
Friday night's event is live on BT Sport 1 from 7pm to 10pm
