British heavyweight Dillian Whyte’s fight against Alexander Povetkin is set to be rescheduled for January 30.

The Body Snatcher was hoping to avenge his defeat to the Russian Olympic gold medallist back in August by facing him just three months later on November 21.

But earlier this week Povetkin tested positive for coronavirus and was taken to hospital, effectively ending any chance of the fight taking place later this month.

There were reports Whyte could fight before a second bout with Povetkin next year, potentially against the likes of Dereck Chisora, Michael Hunter or even a huge dust-up with Tyson Fury when The Gypsy King returns to the UK in December.

But Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn has now confirmed he will fight Povetkin in January, with the only fight trumping that plan being one against WBC champion Fury.

"The fight that [Whyte] wants more than anything is Alexander Povetkin. I think that he has to rectify that defeat or try to rectify that defeat," he told reporters.

"There is one fight that I believe he would take, and that's Tyson Fury on December 5. I'm not sure we'd expect that to happen but, at the end of the day, unquestionably Dillian Whyte would fight Tyson Fury on December 5 - if they wanted to discuss that fight.

"Realistically we will postpone that fight with Povetkin to January 30.

"And any fighter who has trained for eight weeks and then loses his fight will say, 'I just want to fight'. And yesterday that was very much the opinion.

"But Dillian Whyte has got a pay-per-view slot and Derek Chisora, possibly that could work. Michael Hunter even threw his name in the hat - for free, apparently - but that's not a pay-per-view fight for November 23. Especially with the clutter coming up.

"So I said to Dillian, 'Unless we get asked to fight Tyson Fury, you've just got to wait until January 30. That's the fight for you and that's what you've got to do.' We'll announce that in the next 24 hours."

Whyte has two defeats on his professional record, the first coming against Anthony Joshua in 2015 and the second to Povetkin in August.

If he wins the fight against the Russian, Whyte will reclaim his WBC mandatory position for Fury’s title, although it is not known how long he would have to wait for a shot at the belt.