Dan Azeez vs Josh Buatsi has been postponed after an injury to the former suffered in training.
The clash between two friends-turned-rivals was set to take place on Saturday, October 21 at the O2 Arena.
As the No 1 and No 2 ranked light heavyweights in the world, it had been given a heavy billing going into Saturday, but now doctors have called for the fight to be rescheduled.
As the final eliminator to the WBA light heavyweight title of Dmitry Bivol, Azeez was understandably ‘devastated’ by the late nature of his withdrawal, which is the first of his career.
‘I’m devastated for this to happen on fight week,’ revealed Azeez.
An injury to Dan Azeez has seen his light heavyweight clash with Josh Buatsi postponed
The two friends-turned-rivals posed outside the Emirates Stadium before Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Manchester City
Azeez admitted that he was devastated by the withdrawal – the first of his professional career
‘It still hasn’t sunk in. I’ve never had to withdraw from a fight in my career before. I want to apologise to all the fans, especially those travelling to the fight.
‘I am also extremely sorry to my opponent Joshua Buatsi, to my promoter and to everyone involved who has worked so hard on this date. I hope this fight can be rescheduled as soon as possible.’
Those who held tickets to Saturday’s event will automatically retain their seats for the rescheduled bout.
Those unable to attend are set to be issued a full refund, as per Boxxer.
BOXXER CEO and founder Ben Shalom, added: ‘This is a big shock but everyone at BOXXER is working very hard to ensure we provide clarity for all fighters, teams and most importantly the fans as soon as we can.
‘I know that Dan would do anything to be in the ring on Saturday night and for this to happen at this stage is devastating. This is a huge fight for British Boxing, but the health and safety of our fighters must come first.
‘My heart goes out to Dan and Joshua, who have both completed tough camps, and to the fans, with more than 10,000 having made arrangements to come on Saturday.
‘We will provide an update on the rest of the card and communicate a revised date for Buatsi-Azeez as soon as possible.’