Boxing

Jamel Herring tests positive for COVID-19, July 2 title defense against Jonathan Oquendo off

DAZN

23, Jun 20

Jamel Herring tests positive for COVID-19, July 2 title defense against Jonathan Oquendo off

Jamel Herring was itching to get back into a boxing ring and defend his WBO junior lightweight title on July 2 against Jonathan Oquendo at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Those plans have been put on hold indefinitely after Herring tested positive for COVID-19.

"Last week, I tested positive for COVID-19," Herring announced on Twitter. "That’s the bad news. 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. Semper Fi."

This marks another main event for ESPN and Top Rank that had to be scrapped because of a positive COVID-19 test. Last week, Jose Pedraza vs. Mikkel LesPierre was shuttered after LesPierre's manager tested positive for the coronavirus. In total, four fights have been postponed over the past couple of weeks because of failed coronavirus tests. Mikaela Mayer's bout against Helen Joseph was the first fight to be taken down by COVID-19. That fight has been rescheduled for July 14.

With Herring out, Pedraza-LesPierre will be moved into the July 2 main event slot. With both Pedraza and LesPierre's tests coming back clean, ESPN and Top Rank were able to quickly reschedule the fight and fill the void that Herring-Oquendo has left.