KIWIS TARGET FURY/WILDER TRILOGY BOUT
BY CHRIS McKENNA
TYSON FURY and Deontay Wilder have been given another option for a Down Under showdown with New Zealand entering the frame to host their trilogy bout.
It emerged over the weekend that Australia had joined Macau as an alternative venue for the pair’s WBC heavyweight title clash this year if Las Vegas is not feasible.
Kiwi promoter Dean Lonergan has put a proposal to Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum about a Sydney clash on Boxing Day.
But now Lonergan and Arum are considering New Zealand as a potential host venue with the country being cleared of active coronavirus cases on Monday.
The 50,000-seater Eden Park in Auckland is the potential venue for the clash which would be staged in October or November.
Lonergan’s considering asking for government backing with the country keen to inject life into its tourism industry following the pandemic.
“Dean told us that New Zealand is opening for sporting events with full spectator attendance, so he’s exploring the possibility of doing an event in New Zealand,” Arum told NZME.
“It’s a major opportunity. We’re just sorting it out, what can be done, where do we stand if we wanted to do these big events in New Zealand, let’s figure it out.”
A stumbling block, though, could be the quarantine issues in New Zealand but by the end of the year, that might have changed.
However, it’s understood that Las Vegas remains a frontrunner to host the bout this year with growing confidence they may be able to allow crowds into venues in the fight capital before the end of 2020.
Arum is currently in Vegas where his company will stage two shows this week to kickstart the sport again behind closed doors but the casinos in Sin City are already open to the public again.
Fury stopped Wilder in the seventh round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on February 22 just before the coronavirus outbreak halted sport across the world.
But Top Rank chief Arum continues to explore options worldwide as he is keen to get the third Wilder fight out of the way to clear the path for an undisputed clash with Anthony Joshua next year.
Financial backers in Macau have already declared their interest but have yet to come up with an offer.
JON RAHM is ready to go mano a mano with Rory McIlroy for the world No.1 spot when the PGA Tour returns tomorrow.
But the hot-headed Spaniard does not want to wear an oncourse microphone because he fears he will get caught swearing.
The Ryder Cup team-mates will form a blockbuster grouping with world No.3 Brooks Koepka in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.
Sixteen of the world’s top 20 are in the field in Texas for the first Tour event for 91 days.
But despite the behind-closeddoors comeback, Rahm – who gained a reputation for temper tantrums earlier in his career – will not wear a mic to allow TV viewers to listen in.
He said: “I don’t think it would
BY NEIL McLEMAN be as entertaining as people think. Now selfishly because of who I am – and I know how I am on the golf course – I wouldn’t support it just because they might need a 20 to 30 second difference from live. It might be a little bit delayed.
Rahm will become only the second Spaniard after Seve Ballesteros to top the rankings if he wins in Fort Worth and McIlroy does not finish second.
Rahm, 25, said: “I figured they were going to entice the viewers with a couple of really, really good groups. There’ll be no crowd like we probably would
THE first LPGA Major of 2020 has been cancelled.
This season’s Evian Championship was scheduled to take place from August 6-9 in southeastern France.
Evian Championship chairman Franck Riboud dubbed it “unavoidable” given travel restrictions as a result of Covid-19. have had in this group but it’s still fun to play with the best players in the world, see what everybody has been up to and how it goes. But it’s hard to say anymore who’s the best in the world after not competing for three months.
“It all depends on who’s prepared the best, who’s handled the situation the best or who even handles these new rules on the PGA Tour the best.
“We only can come back and prove that we deserve that spot.”
Rahm was tested for coronavirus at 7am local time yesterday and will carefully follow strict social distancing rules.
World No.4 Justin Thomas said the new world of mandatory testing was an easy process and one pros should get used to. But on-course mics is not a new normal he is willing to entertain as he added: “What I talk about with (caddie) Jimmy (Johnson) and with the guys in my group is none of anybody else’s business, no offence.”
The PGA Tour said it will observe a one-minute silence at 8.46am local time during each round of this week’s tournament to honour George Floyd.
An 8.46am tee time has been set aside that will feature no players. Eight minutes and 46 seconds is the length of time prosecutors say the unarmed black man was pinned under a white police officer’s knee before he died last month.