Deontay Wilder will have to wait a little longer for his third shot at beating lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
The second rematch between the heavyweights has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ESPN. Fury and Wilder originally were scheduled to fight July 18 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but it will be pushed back to the fall.
With casinos in Las Vegas shut down due to the outbreak, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who also is Fury’s co-promoter, expressed concern over the MGM Grand even being in operation by the time the fight rolls around in July.
“You could not guarantee the fighters that the event would take place on that date. We couldn’t convince them or ourselves,” Arum said, per ESPN. “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.”
There was a large contingent of fans in the United States from Fury’s native England for the first two fights.
The first bout was a controversial split draw in 2018. Fury knocked out Wilder in the seventh round of their rematch in February.
