Yet another event has fallen victim to COVID, this time delaying one of the most anticipated fights of the year.

Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez was forced to withdraw from his rubber match with reigning lineal/WBA junior bantamweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada after testing positive for the infectious disease, representatives from Matchroom Boxing and Estrada’s team both confirmed with BoxingScene.com. The bout was due to headline an October 16 DAZN show from a location to be determined but will now likely land on a November date.

ESPN Deportes’ Salvador ‘Chava’ Rodriguez was the first to report the news.

Concerns surfaced over the fight falling through once it was revealed that Estrada (41-3, 27KOs) broke training camp earlier this week, only to learn that it was due to Gonzalez’s current health status. An agreement was in place for the third fight between the elite-level talents, with the show scheduled to have been announced during the September 4 DAZN telecast featuring the rematch between Mauricio Lara and Josh Warrington from Leeds, England.

Instead comes a delay in the third installment of one of boxing’s best rivalries.

Estrada avenged a past defeat with a win over Nicaragua’s Gonzalez (50-3, 41KOs) this past March 13 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The split decision was met with mixed reaction, with many observers believing Gonzalez—a four-division champion and former pound-for-pound king—deserved the nod. Judge Jesse Reyes (115-113) was the lone judge to agree with that line of thought, overruled by judges David Sutherland (115-113) and Carlos Sucre (117-111) who ruled in favor of Estrada.

With the win, Estrada claimed the WBA “Super” 115-pound title along with retaining his WBC belt. He has since traded in the latter in favor of “Franchise” champion status in order to go through with the third fight with Gonzalez rather than one with mandatory challenger Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (50-5-1, 43KOs), with whom Estrada previously split a pair of fights.

Sor Rungvisai—a former WBC and lineal champion—is now in line to challenge for the vacant belt in a rematch with fellow former titlist Carlos Cuadras (39-4-1, 27KOs). Their bout is currently in a holding pattern, as it remains unclear whether they will still fight in October or if the fight will be packaged with the rescheduled Estrada-Gonzalez trilogy clash.

Gonzalez defeated Estrada by unanimous decision in their first fight back in November 2012, making the final defense of his junior flyweight title. The legendary Nicaraguan previously held a strawweight title and went on to capture the lineal flyweight championship along with two separate junior bantamweight title reigns.

Estrada previously held a flyweight belt before moving up to view for the 115-pound crown. He was unsuccessful in his first bid, dropping a twelve-round decision to Sor Rungvisai in their thrilling February 2018 encounter before unseating the Thai boxer in April 2019. Estrada has made three successful title defenses during his current reign.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox