BOXING will return in Poland on June 12 as Mariusz Wach fights Kevin Johnson behind-closed-doors on a pay-per-view show costing just £3. The heavyweight clash will take place at a hotel in Konary, but amid the coronavirus pandemic no fans will be in attendance. ⚠️ Read our coronavirus in sport live blog for the latest […]
BOXING will return in Poland on June 12 as Mariusz Wach fights Kevin Johnson behind-closed-doors on a pay-per-view show costing just £3.
The heavyweight clash will take place at a hotel in Konary, but amid the coronavirus pandemic no fans will be in attendance.
Read our coronavirus in sport live blog for the latest news & updatesPoland has 596 recorded deaths from just over 12,000 cases as they gradually lift lockdown measures.
Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski told private radio broadcaster RMF FM: “We are slowly unfreezing the economy, I think this is good news.”
Their football league has been suspended since March but will return on May 29 with a target of finishing the season by July 20.
Pole Wach, 40, is promoting his fight against heavyweight gatekeeper Johnson, also 40, who has fought but lost to Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Andy Ruiz Jr and Derek Chisora in his 51-fight career.
Wach was drafted in as a late opponent for Dillian Whyte in December, on the undercard of Joshua’s rematch win against Ruiz in Saudi Arabia.
Whyte – who had just been cleared by the United Kingdom Anti-Doping Agency of any doping charges – laboured to a points win against AJ’s former sparring partner.
Boxing had already returned in Nicaragua last weekend as astonishing pictures revealed fighters being sprayed with disinfectant before their bouts and fans were forced to sit apart.
All fighters, trainers and ring girls were forced to wear face masks on their arrival at the 8,097-capacity Alexis Argüello Sports Centre in Managua.
Fans, including children, were also sprayed with disinfectant, had their temperatures recorded as they entered the arena and then forced to sit one metre apart in the stands as they watched the action unfold.
Reports claim that around a tenth of the stadium was full despite the tickets being handed out for free.
With boxers unable to wear their masks while fighting, organisers were taking no risks and sensationally sprayed them from head-to-toe in disinfectant before the first bell rang.
Governers in Nicaragua claim they have only had 11 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as promoter and former world champion Ricardo Alvarez said he hosted the night to help out the boxers.
He said: “Nicaragua is a poor country and the boxers have to eat. They can’t stay shut up in their house. Here in Nicaragua there is no quarantine.
“The government of Nicaragua and the Minister of Health have made a great effort so that the pandemic did not leave a mark on this country.
“We have been lucky that the cases we have had have been few, and we all need to work, so we are making this effort.”
