The fate of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul bout appears to be uncertain.
Theories about whether the postponed bout would be rescheduled or canceled mounted Thursday with promoters having pledged to announce a new date by Friday.
On Thursday morning, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which oversees combat sports, said no new date had been requested.
The spokesperson, Tela Mange, Communications Manager for the TDLR, said dates generally are approved the day they’re requested.
“Well, it would be a bad idea to announce a date before making sure that TDLR will approve it,” Mange, Communications Manager for the TDLR, told USA TODAY Sports by email. “If we don’t have appropriate staff available or we can’t approve the date for some other reason, they would have to change the date they wanted. Which is why they ask before they announce, and why we make every effort to approve or reject the date requested on the date a promoter requests it.”
The promoters still have time to make a request and announce a new date by their stated deadline of Friday.
The fight originally was scheduled to be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys, on July 20. It was postponed last week after Tyson said he needed more time to recover from an ulcer flare-up he suffered on a cross-country flight, according to his representatives.
Representatives for Tyson, Paul and the fight promoter did not respond to USA TODAY Sports’ requests for comment Thursday left by voicemail and text message. Joe Trahan, director of media relations and corporate communications for the Cowboys, did not respond to requests seeking information on whether a new date for the fight had been submitted.
On Wednesday, Paul posted on his Instagram account a video of himself standing in a downpour and at one point howling into the sky. Text over the video read: “Jake Paul depressed after Mike Tyson pulled out.”
Also on Wednesday, a video posted on Tyson’s Instagram account showed him at a coffee house he opened last year in Amsterdam. But Tyson’s publicist, Jo Mignano, said the video footage from a visit made last September at the coffee house was posted by Tyson 2.0, the boxer’s cannabis company.
A link on the AT&T Stadium events page for tickets to the fight redirects to SeatGeek, the official online reseller. Tickets still are listed for sale on SeatGeek’s site.
SeatGeek did not immediately respond to USA TODAY Sports’ requests for comment submitted by email.
Follow Josh Peter on social media @joshlpeter11
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight fate unclear with no new date requested
