Jamel Herring sees world title fight cancelled again after second Covid-19 test

Jamel Herring’s WBO super-featherweight title bout against Jonathan Oquendo has been cancelled after the champion returned a positive Covid-19 test for the second time.

Herring was originally scheduled to defend his title at an empty MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Tuesday on July 2. In the weeks leading into the fight however Herring confirmed he has contracted coronavirus before entering self-isolation.

The bout was rescheduled for Tuesday night with the 34-year-old testing negative before travelling to Las Vegas at the weekend. However further testing on Sunday revealed another positive test.

Herring’s promoter Top Rank confirmed the fight was off on Monday night.

"I feel great, I had the best [weight] cut ever. I was actually on weight days ago," Herring told ESPN. "I'm actually more bummed out about this for my team because we put in so much work.

"We even had the extra weeks for the fight after the original date. The main thing is I took time away from my family. But I'm more upset for the people around me. But I feel great."

Herring had been set to fight Carl Frampton later this year in Belfast. A September date was pushed as a result of the pandemic with Top Rank chief Bob Arum recently claiming a November slot is now more likely.

Herring’s latest positive test however could complicate those plans.

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