BOXING promoter Eddie Hearn will stage a series of behind-closed-doors events at his Essex home, featuring St Joseph's fighter Gavin Gwynne.

Hearn has been desperate to bring back the sport and erected a ring outside his home to stage a series of events dubbed 'Fight Camp', which start on Saturday, August 1.

Included in the bill is Gwynne's British lightweight title fight against James Tennyson.

The 30-year-old from Nelson will now take on Belfast's Tennyson on Saturday, on a bill headlined by the IBF international super-welterweight title clash between Sam Eggington and Ted Cheesman.

Fighters will be expected to enter a bubble ahead of their matches and, alongside officials, staff and media, will undergo testing for Covid-19.

'Fight Camp' will begin with Sam Eggington putting his IBF international super-welterweight title on the line against Ted Cheeseman.

There will also be events on August 7 and 14, before former WBC interim heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte rounds things off by going up against big-hitting Russian Alexander Povetkin on August 22.

Hearn's garden in Brentwood has been transformed into a state-of-the-art complex.

A canopy has been erected to protect the temporary ring from bad weather, while the manicured lawns and flowerbeds contribute to an unusual backdrop.

"I wanted to bring boxing back with a bang, we're a major sport and we had to make a big impression," Hearn told the PA news agency.

"Everybody would prefer to fight in a packed arena but I think fighters started to realise, 'I can't afford for my career to stall'.

"We hope this isn't going to be the new norm but what you are going to see on Saturday is something very different and there are going to be a lot of people tuned in to see the start of Fight Camp where, for the next four weeks, this will be the home of boxing."

Irish fighter Katie Taylor will put her status as undisputed lightweight champion on the line in a rematch against Delfine Persoon on the Whyte-Povetkin bill.

Taylor added Persoon's WBC title to her WBA, IBF and WBO crowns at Madison Square Garden in June last year after a razor-thin majority decision verdict but many at ringside and beyond felt the Belgian deserved the nod.

"Many people believed Delfine Persoon won that fight," said Hearn.

"I think ever since we walked back to the changing rooms, Katie Taylor has thought, 'I want to put that thought out of people's minds. It was a close fight, I believe I won but I will do it again and I will prove to you that I am the best'.

"The undisputed lightweight title - part of a huge night. It's great to bring boxing back."

Hearn also expects Anthony Joshua - who has reached an agreement for two upcoming fights with fellow Briton Tyson Fury - to take on mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev before the end of 2020 and admits the bout could take place in similar circumstances to his current venture.

Joshua's career has effectively been put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic since he regained his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles from Andy Ruiz Jr last December in Saudi Arabia.

"We want him to be in front of crowds. But for his development, he needs to fight this year," Hearn said.