George Kambosos Jr's lightweight world title fight with Teofimo Lopez could be heading to the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE emerging as potential locations for the blockbuster bout.
As negotiations continue over a venue and date for the 135-pound fight after Sydney was ruled out as a location due to Lopez's unwillingness to undergo Australia's two-week quarantine period.
According to ESPN's Mike Coppinger, Triller co-founder Ryan Kavanaugh is looking into moving the bout to the Middle East.
Initially the fight was scheduled to take place in Miami, where Lopez grew up.
Lopez, who unified the lightweight division in a boilover against Vasyl Lomachenko last year, tested positive just days before the June 19 fight.
Kambosos is the mandatory to Lopez's IBF title, with the sanctioning body ruling last week that the bout must be held at a venue that doesn't require quarantining.
The IBF gave Triller - which won the right to hold the fight at a purse bid in February - until October 17 to stage the fight, while contracts are due on August 24.
If the August deadline is not met, the bout will go to Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, which was the next highest bidder at February's auction.
After Lopez tested postive for COVID-19 and pulled out of their scheduled June showdown in Florida, reports surfaced that Triller had looked into staging the fight at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney.
Lopez refused to travel to Australia and quarantine for two weeks, forcing Triller into another rethink.
"We are currently working with the regulatory bodies to bring this fight to Saudi [Arabia] or UAE [United Arab Emirates] in October," Kavanaugh told ESPN.
"We think it's the perfect place for such a landmark fight."
