Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has said his fighter Teofimo Lopez should have had a Covid-19 vaccine.
Lopez returned a positive PCR test result for the coronavirus this week, forcing the postponement of his June 19 clash with George Kambosos Jr. to August 14.
While Arum is confident that Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder is not subject to the same vulnerabilities, Arum implied that the unified lightweight champion had been irresponsible.
“We tell all our fighters – you guys are fighting for big money and promoters are laying out big money,” Arum said, according to BoxingScene.com. “Get yourself vaccinated, so you don’t [contract] the COVID. Now, you take the two fighters here, Fury is totally vaccinated. And I talked with [manager] Shelly Finkel a little while ago, and he said that Wilder’s been fully vaccinated. And their corners have been vaccinated. That’s taking responsibility.”
Arum then turned his attention to Lopez, who was due for a fight on Triller away from Top Rank. The promotional outfit and Lopez recently signed an improved deal to resolve the lingering tensions between the two parties.
“Now Teofimo, you know, he was off with this Triller thing and so forth,” Arum said. “There was no reason why before he went into training that he didn’t get vaccinated. No reason! And if he had gotten vaccinated, he wouldn’t have lost his payday. So, I feel sorry for him, but the fight will happen.
“But again, this is different from when we first went into the bubble last June, and we had every other fight with a guy getting COVID because nobody really knew how to handle it. But now, with the vaccination, anybody gets COVID. Shame on them. Shame on them because they hadn’t taken the time, or they hadn’t, for some crazy reason, decided not to get vaccinated. That’s nuts!”