Jamel Herring tests positive for coronavirus, July 2 title defense off
Jamel Herring’s second defense of the WBO junior lightweight title was postponed on Tuesday after he disclosed on social media that he tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Last week, I tested positive for COVID-19. That’s the bad news,” Herring said in a statement. “The good news, however, is I feel OK and have self-isolated until I receive a clean bill of health. My WBO junior lightweight world title defense against Jonathan Oquendo will be rescheduled shortly.”
Herring (21-2, 10 knockouts), who defeated Lamont Roach by unanimous decision in his first defense in November, was slated to face Oquendo (31-6, 19 KOs) in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on July 2 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum informed The Ring Tuesday afternoon that there is a chance the junior welterweight bout between Jose Pedraza and Mikkel LesPierre, which was postponed last week after LesPierre’s manager, Jose Tavares, tested positive for COVID-19, could take over as the main event.
“We’re thinking about getting the Pedraza fight back on (the card),” Arum said. “Then we’ll look into getting Jamel back on later in the month.”
The long-time promoter also praised Herring for getting tested early.
“Jamel very responsibly tested for coronavirus when he was training, came down with coronavirus, and that enabled us to postpone his fight and put another in its place.
“We’re dealing with a situation that none of us have dealt with before, and we’re trying to deal with it as intelligently and safely as possible.”
The remainder of the card is set to feature a junior lightweight bout between unbeaten Albert Bell (16-0, 5 KOs) and Mark Bernaldez (20-3, 14 KOs), as well as an anticipated featherweight Adan Gonzalez and two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (3-1, 3 KOs), who was dropped in the opening seconds of their scheduled four-round contest and suffered a split decision loss to Gonzales (5-2-2, 2 KOs) in his pro debut in a huge upset last August.
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