Matchroom Boxing have announced that four of their big events later this year will all take place at the SSE Arena in Wembley in a residency deal with the venue.
As Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn revealed earlier this month, talks were ongoing to use the venue for cards he at one point had hoped would be able to welcome crowds at a fraction of their capacity as boxing attempts to return to normality during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The recent resumption of some restrictions has made things even more difficult, but regardless of the attendance situation the building adjacent to the iconic Wembley Stadium will be Matchroom's base of operations beginning Oct. 31.
Oleksandr Usyk and Dereck Chisora's heavyweight showdown headlines a Halloween night of boxing with support from Lee Selby and George Kambosos Jr., who square off in a final eliminator for the IBF lightweight championship,
Savannah Marshall and Hannah Rankin will also do battle on the undercard for the vacant WBO middleweight title after their October date was postponed due to trainer Peter Fury's positive COVID-19 test result, while heavyweight Dave Allen returns to action, Belfast's Tommy McCarthy meets Belgium's Bilal Laggoune for the European Cruiserweight belt and Amy Timlin does battle with Carly Skelly for the Commonwealth super-bantamweight strap.
The second Wembley card, on Nov. 14, is a historic all-female world championship triple-header, with undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor at the top of the bill in her mandatory defence against Miriam Gutierrez. Meanwhile Terri Harper defends her WBC super-featherweight strap against Katharina Thanderz and Rachel Ball meets Ebanie Bridges with the WBA bantamweight title up for grabs.
On the Taylor-Gutierrez undercard, Jamie Cox returns against Jack Cullen, John Docherty steps up against Jack Arnfield and recent Matchroom light-heavyweight recruit Thomas Whittaker-Hart meets Jermaine Springer.
One week later, the third night at the SSE Arena is topped by Dillian Whyte's must-win rematch with Alexander Povetkin after his shock defeat in the fourth and final Matchroom Fight Camp main event. Also on the show, welterweight Conor Benn returns in a big test against German Sebastian Formella and Chris Billam-Smith defends the Commonwealth and British cruiserweight titles against unbeaten English champ Deion Jumah.
The fourth and final show as part of the deal will take place on Friday Dec. 4, with fights to be confirmed in due course. However, Matchroom have announced that it will be "a night of world championship boxing".
“I’m delighted to have The SSE Arena, Wembley as our new home for the next six weeks, we’ve got a remarkable schedule especially considering the current environment," said Hearn.
"It’s so important to be as creative as you can with behind closed doors events and here we have a huge space that we can create a high end viewing experience for the fans at home.
"Whilst we have made the decision to proceed with these huge nights without a crowd, we are working hard with The SSE Arena, Wembley and the authorities to try and bring fans back safely during this period."
John Drury, VP & General Manager, The SSE Arena, Wembley added: "It’s such an honour that we’ve been chosen to host this Matchroom residency.
"We’ve seen some massive shows over the years, and circumstances now make these particularly special.
"Not only are they huge events in their own right, but they’ll be giving vital work to some of our supply chain contractors, which has been almost completely missing since March."