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Jose Ramirez-Viktor Postol fight postponed due to coronavirus outbreak in China
Jose Ramirez will have to wait a bit longer to defend his unified junior welterweight world titles.
The WBC/WBO champion was supposed to defend his crown against former world titleholder Viktor Postol at Mission Hills Haikou in Hainan, China on Feb. 1, but the bout has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. The Ramirez-Postol fight will be rescheduled at a date and venue yet to be determined, according to Top Rank.
“The health and safety of our fighters and everyone working on the event is the most important thing,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum in a press release. “We hope the situation is brought under control soon. We look forward to staging events at Mission Hills Haikou in the very near future.”
Ramirez took to his Instagram account to weigh in on the postponement, adding that if it takes too long to reschedule the Postol fight that he'd like the opportunity to face fellow unified junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor, with undisputed glory at 140 pounds on the line.
Chinese health officials reported 26 deaths from and 830 overall cases of the coronavirus, as reported by the New York Times. The same publication reported that the disease has also been detected in nations such as the United States, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand, to name a few, in travelers who visited China.
The Ramirez-Postol cancellation comes just as the American and British governments issued an advisory to avoid the city of Wuhan and its surrounding area, where there are signs of the outbreak of the deadly virus. MSN.com reported that the coronavirus stems from animals, "possibly seafood," and that it triggers pneumonia, where "antibiotics are of no use."
On Saturday, China will shut down its Shanghai Disneyland. That coincides with the start of China's Lunar New Year holiday. Altogether, China has issued a lockdown through 12 cities, restricting 35 million residents from traveling in efforts to control the coronavirus, according to the New York Times.
