Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera will have to wait, too. Just as preparation for a major fight in his career was beginning to ramp up, the Cuban fighter's return has been held back, like many others, due to the epidemic of the coronavirus that has wreaked havoc in boxing.
The Guantanamo was scheduled to face former world champion Sergey Kovalev on April 25, in the main event of card being promoted by Golden Boy in Indio, California.
The entire card has been postponed until the everything returns to normal and the restrictions that prevent gatherings for more than 50 people at one time are lifted.
For Barrera it is a further pause in his career, because he finally recovered from shoulder surgery that required a long recovery period before the possibility of confronting Kovalev appeared on the horizon.
"It really disappointed us, because we were very excited to do this fight," commented Luis Molina, the manager of Barrera, to George Ebro. "Sullivan was preparing very well to fight Kovalev, but we understood what's going on. The main thing is the health of the boxers and the fans.''
Although several press reports indicated that Barrera was in the crosshairs of Marcus Browne, his camp was working to secure this meeting with Kovalev, who is coming off a knockout loss in November 2019 to Mexican superstar Saúl "Canelo'' Alvarez.
Barrera had an operation on his right shoulder last September to repair a damaged ligament, which prevented him from deploying his skills in the ring and annoyed him for quite some time.
After the fight against Dmitry Bivol, Barrera (22-3, 14 KO), he began experiencing shoulder discomfort, but tried to return to normal with exercises and therapies to avoid an operation that would keep him out of the ring for at least eight months.
"We understand that this is a postponement and that the fight will take place later," Molina added. "Sullivan hopes to beat Kovalev. Now an adjustment period will come and we'll wait for the new date, but the goal has not changed. It's only been delayed a little longer.''