Conor Benn vs. Adrian Granados is off after Benn tested positive for COVID-19. The featherweight title bout between Xu Can and Leigh Wood is the main event.
Welterweight boxers Conor Benn and Adrian Granados were pumped to fight each other on Saturday, July 31, from Matchroom’s Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex, United Kingdom. Instead, Benn tested positive for COVID-19, and Xu Can vs. Leigh Wood is the new main event.
Matchroom CEO Eddie Hearn announced Benn’s positive COVID-19 result on social media on Thursday, July 29.
During a Tuesday media call, Granados told FanSided that he felt an urgency to knock Benn out in their contest because he was fighting in Benn’s home country.
“I have to knock him out or dominate the fight, but more than anything, I’m gonna have to stop him,” Granados told FanSided.
This fight was significant to both boxers, but they will have to wait as the fight is postponed.
Leigh Wood tries to upset WBA “regular” featherweight champion Xu Can on Saturday, July 31, on DAZN
Fortunately for Matchroom, they constructed a very good boxing card from top to bottom. The featherweight title contest between WBA “regular” champion Xu Can vs. Leigh wood is now the main event.
Can (18-2,3 KOs), 27, from Beijing, China, won the title in 2019 by beating Jesus Rojas by unanimous decision. He has defended it twice since then and is fighting Wood in Wood’s home country of England.
Wood (24-2,14 KOs), 32, from Nottinghamshire, England, dropped a close decision to Jazza Dickens in 2020 but dramatically stopped Reece Mould in round 9 via TKO in his last bout. Mould was a solid opponent, but Can is Wood’s first elite opponent.
“What I tend to do, I take away the belt,” Wood told FanSided during Tuesday’s media call. “I take away the money. I take away the status of what it’s for as well, and I concentrate on my opponent. I focus on what I need to do to be there. What I need to do to take away their best attributes and help me get off at what I’m good at as well.”
Can has two losses on his record, but they came very early in his career.
Matchroom Fight Camp also features super welterweight Anthony Fowler and a competitive cruiserweight contest between Tommy McCarthy and Chris Billam-Smith. Also, amateur standout Sandy Ryan makes her professional debut.