The highly confusing WBC lightweight title picture took another complicated turn after Jorge Linares tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of his August 28 fight with Javier Fortuna.
Linares was supposed to meet Fortuna for the WBC’s ‘Diamond’ title at 135lbs with the winner facing ‘Full’ champion Devin Haney.
The winner of a WBC interim title fight between Luke Campbell and Ryan Garcia is also supposed to meet Haney while ‘Franchise’ champion Vasiliy Lomachenko’s clash with IBF title-holder Teofimo Lopez is in the balance due to the American’s pay demands. Just when you think the situation couldn’t get any more bewildering.
Fortuna (35-2-1, 24 KOs) will still fight on the August 28 Golden Boy promotion as the Linares camp try to make sense of it all.
“He’s feeling okay,” Linares’ manager Jose De La Cruz told Steve Kim of ESPN.com. “He’s got symptoms, he’s at the hospital, he can’t leave for 10 days. It’s a nightmare for everyone.”
Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) was preparing for Fortuna at the Teiken Gym in Tokyo, Japan, which has since been closed after the positive result.
“We found out [the results] after a pre-fight test was conducted while [Linares] continued to make good progress [in training],” said a statement from Linares’ promoter Teiken Promotions.
Meanwhile, the WBC interim title fight between Campbell and Garcia has headed to purse bids, scheduled for August 11, with an agreement yet to be reached.
Confused? You should be.