Tyson Fury’s heavyweight title defence against Deontay Wilder has been postponed after the champion and members of his camp contracted Covid-19, the World Boxing Council confirmed on Friday.
In a brief post on Twitter, the WBC confirmed the July 24 bout had been postponed but did not say when the trilogy fight would be rescheduled.
“Fury vs Wilder III will be postponed,” the WBC said. “We wish Tyson Fury’s team and him speedy recovery from COVID.”
Multiple reports in the US and Britain have said Fury and several members of his team had tested positive for Covid-19 at their Las Vegas training base.
ESPN reported that the fight at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena had been tentatively rescheduled for October 9.
The positive test was the latest twist to what has been a tortuous year for Fury.
The undefeated “Gypsy King” had been set to face a money-spinning heavyweight unification fight against fellow Briton Anthony Joshua.
However that fight was scuppered after an arbitrator ruled that Fury was legally obligated to face Wilder in a third fight.
Fury handed Wilder a brutal beating in seven one-sided rounds in their second fight in February 2020.
Their first fight, in December 2018, ended in a controversial split-decision draw in which Fury was knocked down twice.
Neither Wilder, 35, nor Fury, has fought since their bout in Las Vegas last year.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")