As the world attempts to fight back against the coronavirus pandemic, the sports industry has rightfully been put on hold.
Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder’s trilogy fight, which had been pencilled in for July 18th, is the latest to be affected by the outbreak.
Top Rank chairman, Bob Arum, has told ESPN that the fight is still happening, though would likely be in the final quarter of the year.
When asked about the likelihood of the July date, Arum stated: “clearly not.”
“We don’t even know if the MGM will be open by then,
“You could not guarantee the fighters that the event would take place on that date. We couldn’t convince them or ourselves,” Arum said.
“Where were they going to train for it? It just made no sense. You just have to take a step back. How are you going to sell tickets? It’s absolutely ridiculous to say the fight is on when the Brits can’t even get there.
“So everybody has to take a step back. Boxing is not isolated. It’s part of what’s happening in the world,” Arum said. “So possibly the fight will be in early October.”
The promoter said he and Wilder’s co-manager, Al Haymon are on the same page regarding the issue.
“Al and his people are in touch with us all the time on this,” Arum said. “We see things the same way. We’ll be very, very cautious moving ahead and pray this will be over at a particular time and we will be able to make smart plans. Nobody has ever experienced anything like this before.”
Eddie Hearn recently hinted that due to the current fight postponements, the much-anticipated matchup between Fury and Anthony Joshua could take priority over the fights already scheduled.
With Joshua’s June 20 bout with Kubrat Pulev also looking unlikely, Hearn suggested that anything is possible in the next year.
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