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By Arne K. Lang
Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin is the latest prominent athlete to test positive for the coronavirus. Povetkin’s rematch with Dillian Whyte, scheduled for Nov. 21, has been pushed back to Jan. 30.
A 2004 Olympic gold medalist and former WBA world title-holder, the 41-year-old Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KOs) upset Whyte on Aug. 22, coming off the deck twice to starch the “Body Snatcher” with a vicious uppercut in the fifth round – the early frontrunner for Knockout of the Year.
A short list of boxers who have been waylaid by the virus would include Mikaela Mayer, Hiroto Kyoguchi, Otto Wallin, Jamel Herring, and Stephen Fulton Jr. Prominent trainer Robert Garcia also tested positive, as did uber-promoter Eddie Hearn and reportedly a significant number of the 25-man German National Boxing Team preparing for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The good news is that most of those that tested positive were asymptomatic. Mayer was back in action in five weeks after testing positive on June 7. This past Saturday, she won the vacant WBO female 130-pound world title with a 10-round decision over Poland’s Ewa Brodnicka.
The COVID-19, needless to say, is a very mysterious disease. Eddie Hearn’s father Barry Hearn, the founder of Matchroom Sport and an IBHOF inductee, also contracted the virus. However, Eddie Hearn’s wife and children did not although he had considerably more face-to-face contact with them than with his father. No active athlete with a prominent platform on the world stage has died from the virus (at least not yet). However, cardiovascular experts have expressed concern that an athlete may be at risk of lasting heart complications if he returns to his sport too soon.
In the United States, transparency regarding specific cases is complicated by federal health privacy laws. Perhaps the same situation exists in Russia as Povetkin’s current situation remains unclear. Neither Eddie Hearn nor Povetkin’s promoter Andrey Ryabinsky have had anything to share with the media beyond the revelation that Povetkin (pictured with famous ring announcer Michael Buffer) has been hospitalized.
The legendary boxing champion Roberto Duran was hospitalized for the coronavirus in his native Panama on or about June 24 and discharged on July 2. Duran, now 69 years old, was purportedly able upon his discharge to resume his normal activities.
It wasn’t urgent that Duran be hospitalized; it was done as a precaution. Hopefully this also applies to Alexander Povetkin. We here at TSS wish him a speedy recovery.
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