Alexander Povetkin didn’t pay much mind to Dillian Whyte’s baseless claim that the Russian heavyweight faked contracting COVID-19 to delay their immediate rematch.

Povetkin provided proof to Whyte’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, once coronavirus caused him to take an extended break from training early in November.

London’s Whyte (27-2, 18 KOs) and Povetkin (35-2-1, 26 KOs) initially were scheduled to fight again November 23, barely three months after Povetkin viciously knocked out Whyte. Their second bout was postponed until January 30 after Povetkin got sick.

Their 12-round rematch for Povetkin’s WBC interim championship was pushed back again, to March 6, before it finally was rescheduled for Saturday night at Europa Point Sports Complex in Gibraltar. Povetkin responded to Whyte’s conspiracy theory during a virtual conference call Tuesday to promote their Sky Sports Box Office main event.

“He can think and [say] whatever he wants, but we have the papers,” Povetkin said, according to his translator. “We have documents with different analyses and the results. We actually sent it to Matchroom [Boxing]. So, this is not a case for discussion.”

The 41-year-old Povetkin was hospitalized briefly, but the former WBA champion recovered and recently completed a normal training camp.

“I don’t feel any effects of coronavirus,” Povetkin said. “I’m training well. The camp was good. I didn’t think about that at all.”

Whyte was frustrated when their rematch was postponed and questioned Povetkin’s illness.

“I personally don’t think he’s got COVID,” Whyte told Sky Sports in November. “I think he just needed more time to get ready, because he took a lot of damage in the first fight. After the first fight, he took a lot of time off. Even though I got stopped, I went straight back to training and I got straight back on it.”

A resilient Povetkin survived two knockdowns in the fourth round of their fight August 22 at Matchroom Boxing’s headquarters in Brentwood, England. Povetkin recovered between rounds and drilled the heavily favored Whyte with a left uppercut that knocked Whyte unconscious early in the fifth round.

The 32-year-old Whyte immediately exercised his rematch clause to ensure he’d get a chance to avenge that devastating defeat in his next fight.

Their rematch will headline a pay-per-view event in the United Kingdom (£19.95; 6 p.m. GMT). DAZN will stream the Povetkin-Whyte show in the United States (3 p.m. ET; noon PT) and approximately 200 additional countries.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.