Two-time super-middleweight champion David Benavidez has tested positive for Covid-19, causing his August 28 WBC title eliminator against former IBF king Jose Uzcategui to be postponed.
The unbeaten Benavidez, who has twice forfeited the WBC belt after testing positive for cocaine and later missing weight on the scales, had hoped victory over Venezuelan puncher Uzcategui in his home city of Phoenix would put him in line for a shot at Mexican superstar and current champion Canelo Alvarez.
Now Benavidez-Uzcategui will be bumped back down the schedule in the latest in a long line of high-profile postponements in 2021 including Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury (boxing politics), Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder III (Fury testing positive for Covid-19), Canelo Alvarez vs Caleb Plant (boxing politics) and Errol Spence vs Manny Pacquiao (Spence sustaining an eye injury).
Mike Coppinger of ESPN.com was the first to break the story of boxing’s latest delay.
Main image: Amanda Westcott/Showtime.