British fighter Dillian Whyte has renewed his claims that Alexander Povetkin faked his bout of coronavirus.
Povetkin defeated Whyte in August 2020 in the finale of Matchroom’s Fight Camp summer series during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Fights were held at their Brentwood HQ with the ring situated outside to comply with Covid-19 restrictions.
The Russian delivered a surprise knockout blow after being sent to the canvas twice himself, and Whyte immediately decided to exercise his rematch clause.
A first date was set for November and then January, but Povetkin suffered from an extended bout of coronavirus which has seen the fight moved back to March 27, to take place in Gibraltar. The fight will be shown on DAZN in some regions.
Whyte told The Sun that he thinks that Povetkin’s claims over his coronavirus infection was merely a way to get more time to prepare for any fight.
“He never had COVID,” Whyte said. “He just wanted more time to train or prepare.
“You don’t recover from coronavirus overnight like that, it was some sort of miracle recovery. But this is boxing and I am used to all the games and tricks.
“For someone that has had COVID, he has looked in photos better than I have ever seen him look before! I’m not sure someone coming off their sickbed would look that good. Thankfully the fight is now on, there are no more delays and we are ready to rock.”