Thomas Dulorme and Jamal James will have to wait two more weeks to finally fight.
Their welterweight title bout, which had already been postponed from April 11 to July 25 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been pushed back two additional weeks. Dulorme and James will now headline a “FOX PBC Fight Night” broadcast August 8.
The card featuring Dulorme and James still is expected to take place in a studio setting in the Los Angeles area because fans cannot attend sporting events in the United States.
ESPN.com’s Steve Kim first reported that the FOX show was moving back two weeks.
FOX’s coverage of Major League Baseball caused this postponement. The network will air MLB games on the Saturday nights of July 25 and August 1.
Due mostly to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dulorme-James will be FOX’s first main event on free TV since Robert Helenius upset previously unbeaten heavyweight contender Adam Kownacki by fourth-round technical knockout March 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Dulorme (25-3-1, 16 KOs), a Las Vegas resident raised in Puerto Rico, and James (26-1, 12 KOs) initially were scheduled to headline a FOX telecast nearly three months ago from The Armory in Minneapolis, James’ hometown. The rescheduled James-Dulorme card has been moved to another venue because coronavirus restrictions would prevent a crowd from assembling for what would’ve been James’ fifth consecutive hometown fight.
They’ll still fight for the WBA’s interim 147-pound championship. The Philippines’ Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs), who owns the WBA’s “super” welterweight title, is considered that sanctioning organization’s legitimate champion in that division.
Russia’s Alexander Besputin (14-0, 9 KOs) won the WBA’s “world” welterweight title in his last fight, but he tested positive for a banned substance following his 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat of Russia’s Radzhab Butaev (12-1, 9 KOs) on November 30 at Casino de Monte Carlo in Monte Carlo. The WBA since has ordered a bout between Yordenis Ugas (25-4, 12 KOs) and Abel Ramos Jr. (26-3-2, 20 KOs) for the title that was stripped from Besputin during its annual convention last weekend.
The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger reported Monday night that the original co-feature for FOX’s Dulorme-James broadcast will remain part of the telecast August 8. That super middleweight match will pit 22-year-old Cuban prospect David Morrell (2-0, 2 KOs) against Guyana’s Lennox Allen (22-0-1, 14 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
