Boxer Jamel Herring tests positive again for coronavirus

WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring has tested positive again for the coronavirus.

Herring (21-2-0, 10 knockouts) was pulled Monday from the main event of Top Rank’s boxing card Tuesday at the MGM Grand after producing his second positive test in the past three weeks. The 34-year-old was supposed to make the second defense of his belt, against Jonathan Oquendo (31-6, 19 KOs), on July 2, but the fight was postponed when Herring tested positive June 22.

“I quarantined and recovered as directed by my doctor. I then retested on July 3, and my test was negative, so this result is a complete surprise,” Herring said in a statement.

Junior lightweights Mikaela Mayer (12-0, five KOs) and Helen Joseph (17-4-2, 10 KOs) now will meet in the main event in a fight originally scheduled for June 9 on the promotion’s first card amid the virus. It was postponed when Mayer tested positive.

Featherweight Luis Melendez’s fight against Edward Vazquez also was scratched from Tuesday’s card because Melendez tested positive for the virus. Top Rank chief operating officer Brad Jacobs said last month that he knew there would be positive tests but was satisfied with how the promotion’s bubble had operated.

“It’s going to happen at some point, somewhere,” Jacobs said. “We know it could be the main event, the co-feature or anything in between. It’s just part of the process.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.