Tyson Fury and Deontay will have to wait a little longer for their third fight.
They were tentatively scheduled to meet on July 18 but, Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum told ESPN, the fight is likely to be moved to sometime in the fall as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has banned combat sports indefinitely and Las Vegas is more or less shut down.
Arum was asked directly whether the fight would take place on July 18.
“Clearly not,” Arum told ESPN. “We don’t even know if the MGM will even be open by then.”
He went on: “You could not guarantee the fighters that the event would take place on that date. We couldn’t convince them or ourselves. 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.”
Arum, who promotes Fury, said Wilder manager Al Haymon of Premier Boxing Champions is on board with the change in schedule.
“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.”
Fury and Wilder fought to a draw in December 2018. In the rematch, this past Feb. 22, Fury scored a sensational seventh-round knockout.