COVID test knocks out Fury-wilder bout
BOXER POSITIVE
The trilogy fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas this month has been called off after Fury tested positive for COVID-19, the World Boxing Council announced on Friday.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury had signed a contract in May to face American boxer Wilder for a third time on July 24.
“Fury vs. Wilder III will be postponed. We wish Tyson Fury’s team and him speedy recovery from COVID,” the WBC said.
Fury tested positive earlier this week. A source close to the promotion said the fight will be postponed until the fall. It reportedly might not be staged until September or early October because of other scheduled fights over the next few months and potentially conflicting pay-per-view events, as well as concerts at T-mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The 32-year-old Fury (300-1, 21 KOS) had been set to face fellow Briton Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia in August in a world heavyweight unification title fight, but an American arbitrator ordered Fury to fight Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOS) again before Sept. 15.
It would be the first fight for either heavyweight since they squared off in February 2020 at Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Fury beat Wilder, 35, in that bout via a seventh-round technical knockout to claim the WBC belt.
In their first encounter, staged in January 2018 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, Fury and Wilder fought to a split draw that allowed Wilder to retain his WBC title. Many observers felt that the Englishman got the better of Wilder in that fight by controlling much of the action, although Wilder scored knock-downs in the ninth and 12th rounds.
After Wilder’s loss last year, his team triggered a rematch clause in his fight contract, but a third bout with Fury was postponed because the pandemic would have prevented fans from attending last year.
“It was a crazy roller coaster toward this fight,” Fury said at a promotional event with Wilder last month. “I always say, ‘You’re never fighting someone until you’re in the ring opposite them.’”
“I didn’t feel any way about Fury trying to negotiate another fight,” Wilder said at the time. “We knew we were in the right and we knew they couldn’t run.”