Fight expected to start late (4)
I believe the answer is:
duel
'fight' is the definition.
(duel is a kind of fight)
'expected to start late' is the wordplay.
'expected' becomes 'due' (I've seen this before).
'to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'start' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'late' is 'l'.
'due'+'l'='DUEL'
(Other definitions for duel that I've seen before include "Contest between two with deadly weapons" , "One got satisfaction from this" , "Two-person combat" , "Prearranged fight with deadly weapons between two people" , "Fight to the death between two people" .)