Dillian Whyte has been forced to pull out of his heavyweight clash with Joe Joyce.
Whyte vs Joyce was due to headline a show in Manchester on April 5, but Whyte suffered a severe injury to his finger in training and will now not be able to box on that date.
A replacement opponent for Joyce is now being sought for that contest.
Whyte last fought in December in Gibraltar when he overcame Ebenezer Tetteh. This bout with Joyce would have been his first in Britain since 2022 when he edged out Jermaine Franklin on a majority decision.
Whyte had been due to fight a rematch with Anthony Joshua in 2023, only to return an adverse finding in a drug test which saw that fight cancelled.
Now Whyte has been cleared to box, but this injury setback will delay his return to top-tier boxing.
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Joe Joyce has a tense exchange with an interviewer after being asked about defeats to Zhilei Zhang
Joyce himself had intended to have a tune-up bout but in the end didn’t box last weekend as originally proposed. He will still be able to fight on April 5 as the Olympic silver medallist looks to come back from a decision defeat to Derek Chisora last July.
Queensberry Promotions, which stages the April 5 event, said in a statement: “Due to a hand injury sustained during training camp, Dillian Whyte will no longer be able to compete in his scheduled bout on April 5 against Joe Joyce at the Co-Op Live in Manchester.
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Trainer Joe Gallagher suggested that Lawrence Okolie could be the replacement opponent for Joe Joyce
“A replacement opponent is now being finalised for ‘The Juggernaut’ and an announcement regarding this will be made shortly.”
Watch Natasha Jonas fight Lauren Price for the IBF, WBC and WBA welterweight world titles on Friday at the Royal Albert Hall, live on Sky Sports.
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