Conor Benn has tested positive for COVID-19 and his clash with Adrian Granados this Saturday has been postponed.
Benn was set to tackle experienced campaigner Granados in the main event of the first week of Fight Camp from Matchroom HQ.
However, on Thursday it was announced that ’The Destroyer’ had tested positive for the virus, with the WBA ‘Regular’ featherweight world title showdown between Xu Can and Leigh Wood elevated to main event status.
The 24-year-old posted a message to his supporters on Instagram following the news.
“Dear all of my supporters and fans that bought tickets to my fight, it breaks my heart to tell you unfortunately I won’t be competing this Saturday as I have tested positive for Covid-19,” Benn wrote on Instagram.
“I have made sure during this camp that we have taken the correct precautions and abided by the highest health and safety measures to avoid this unfortunate circumstance but with the virus still being extremely active this is out of my control.
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“I will be working with my management team, Matchroom Boxing and liaising with Granados to work towards a new date.
“It’s imperative that I get back to full health, isolate and stay safe during this period as I aim to be competing again in the very near future.
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“I will keep you all updated as much as I can.
“Finally my sincerest apologies to everyone who worked hard to put this event together and Adrian who recently flew over to the UK to put on a good fight.. soon come.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed to IFLTV that Benn tested positive on a lateral flow test and they are awaiting results from two PCR tests.
Hearn also confirmed that for now, the Brit is asymptomatic and his situation would be monitored before a decision could be made on when the fight could be rescheduled, but named two possible dates.
“He’s devastated,” Hearn said.
“We will monitor now, because the PCR test will tell us if it is a positive test, where he’s at in terms of his stage of infection.
“He wants to fight on August 14 in a doubleheader with [Joshua] Buatsi [who faces Ricards Bolotniks] at Fight Camp.
“We’ve also got Leeds [Mauricio Lara vs Josh Warrington rematch on September 4] as an option as well, but we’ll just monitor over the next couple of days.”
