The third chapter of one of boxing’s most outstanding recent heavyweight rivalries may have to wait a little longer.  

In a development first reported by ESPN’s Mike Coppinger and later confirmed by multiple sources, an alleged COVID-19 outbreak within Tyson Fury’s entourage may be forcing the postponement of the much anticipated July 24 bout between The Ring’s heavyweight champ and Deontay Wilder, originally set to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.  

Promoters are said to be already looking for a date in September to reschedule the bout, trying to distance it from the Manny Pacquiao-Errol Spence Jr. PPV blockbuster scheduled for late August. In a public statement, however, Top Rank indicated that “we continue to monitor the health status of Tyson and his team, and the status of the event has not changed to date.” 

Fury and Wilder made plenty of headlines during the past year, even though neither one of them has seen action since their last meeting back in February 2020, won by Fury by TKO in seven rounds. The back and forth negotiations to stage this rematch included legal actions taken by the Wilder team to force this third meeting, in spite of a Fury-Anthony Joshua fight being all but already agreed upon. A ruling produced by an arbitrator declared that Fury would have to honor his commitment to a return bout ahead of any other fights. 

In their first encounter, Fury (30-0-1, 21 KO) and Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KO) fought to a draw back in 2018.