UK Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jenny Harries delivered a damning admittance to the British people on Sunday, which is a sobering thought for boxing fans.
Not only fans of our great sport, though. All sports admirers are going to be gasping for their respective fix for at least the next six months or more.
Harries, speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing in London, responded to a question on how long we can all expect to be quarantined.
For the first time in all of this, Harries gave a direct and honest answer to the concerns.
Boxing stops due to Covid-19
“Over time, probably over the next six months, we will have a three-week review, where we will see where we’re going,” Harries stated.
“We need to keep that (self-isolation) lid on. Gradually we’ll be able to adjust some of the social-distancing measures, and gradually get us all back to normal.
“I think three weeks for review. Two or three months to see if we’ve really squashed it, with about three to six months ideally. And there’s lots of uncertainty in that.
“But then to see at which point we can actually get back to normal. And it is plausible that it could go further than that.”
This means boxing is off the menu until October, at the very earliest.
Without some sort of movement, fighters will face a huge backlog and may be forced to stagger back their respective returns.
All those with contests on the horizon before the pandemic may be prioritized first, leaving some top names without encounters for over a year or more.
Boxing bouts to be rescheduled:
Mairis Briedis vs Yuniel Dorticos
Daniel Dubois vs Joe Joyce
Jamal James vs Thomas Dulorme
Regis Prograis vs Maurice Hooker
Naoya Inoue vs Johnriel Casimero
Josh Taylor vs Apinun Khongsong
Canelo vs Billy Joe Saunders
Lee Selby vs George Kambosos Jr.
Jose Ramirez vs Viktor Postol
Claressa Shields vs Marie Dicaire
Nordine Ouabaali vs Nonito Donaire
Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin
Oleksandr Usyk vs Derek Chisora
Jamel Herring vs Carl Frampton
Sergey Kovalev vs Sullivan Barrera
Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev
Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder III
The whole world is in for rough ride over the next three months, with another three months of potential leniency hopefully leading to light at the end of the tunnel.
