Former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs was confidently backing Tyson Fury to defeat Deontay Wilder in their trilogy bout.

But, based on all of the recent happenings he's starting to change his position on the matter and views that contest as being more of an even fight.

Fury and Wilder have been inactive since their rematch, which took place in February 2020. In the second meeting, Fury dominated the action and stopped Wilder in seven rounds to capture the WBC world title.

A third meeting was set for July 24 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The fight took a hit last week, when it was revealed that Fury had tested positive for COVID-19. Their teams are now looking to reschedule the fight to a date in October.

“It must be COVID because I can't see him, I mean from everything I was hearing he was looking like he was ready to go. Then I heard rumors that it was sparring, but I wasn't there. This is boxing, you feel. I heard it was tough sparring, if it was tough sparring, then I heard it was COVID," Briggs told the DAZN Boxing Show.

“It is what it is. If it was tough sparring, he wasn't feeling confident. This might change the game for Wilder now. I was leaning towards Fury myself but I'm now really going back to the middle.”

Wilder has made several adjustments to his team - including the addition of former foe Malik Scott as head trainer.

Briggs has been watching some of Wilder's training videos and likes what he sees from the former champ.

“He really wants to work with Malik. He’s looking neater. Yes, coming straight down the pipe. Now again, it's looking good on paper. You're never gonna get real sharp in the videos,” Briggs said.