A shoulder injury has forced Dillian Whyte to cancel his interim WBC heavyweight title defense against Otto Wallin scheduled for The O2 in London on Saturday, October 30.
The event, shown live worldwide on DAZN, will continue as planned with Chantelle Cameron’s (14-0, 8 KOs) WBC, IBF and Ring Magazine super-lightweight unification clash with Mary McGee (27-3, 15 KOs) now topping the bill.
"I am devastated as I had a great camp, was in great shape, and had great sparring," said Whyte. "I was looking forward to knocking Wallin out and would have done so in the first half of the fight.
"I am devastated about not being able to fight on October 30 but I want to thank everyone for all of their support."
Elsewhere on the card, ‘The Savage’ Alen Babic (8-0, 8 KOs) clashes with two-time heavyweight world title challenger Eric Molina (28-7, 20 KOs) over eight rounds, Craig Richards (16-2-1, 9 KOs) returns to the ring against Poland’s Marek Matyja (20-2-2,9 KOs) after pushing WBA light-heavyweight world champion Dmitry Bivol all the way in May, Youssef Khoumari (13-0-1, 5 KOs) takes on Jorge David Castaneda (14-1, 11 KOs), ‘TheRomford Bull’ Johnny Fisher (3-0, 3 KOs) faces Spain’s Alvaro Terrero (5-13-2, 3 KOs) in front of over 1,000 of his fans.
Also, Ellie Scotney (2-0) squares off against Eva Cantos (2-1) in her first fight with new trainer Shane McGuigan, Jordan Thompson (10-0, 8 KOs) makes his Matchroom debut against Piotr Podlucki (6-5, 2 KOs), light-heavyweight prospect John Hedges (3-0) meets Antony Woolery (2-7) over four rounds and heavyweight Thomas Carty (1-0) has his second professional fight.
Whyte's Physician, and leading Sports & Exercise Medicine Consultant, Dr Harjinder Singh, said: "Dillian sustained a shoulder injury during training in preparation for his planned fight on October 30 2021, which I have assessed and confirmed with diagnostic imaging.
"I have treated the injury, but the injury will unfortunately prevent him from fighting on October 30 2021. With immediate rest, physiotherapy and rehabilitation there should be no enduring concerns."
“Dillian carried this injury for the last couple of weeks but it worsened in sparring on Monday night and it was impossible for him to continue,” said Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn. “It’s a huge shame because Dillian had a great camp before theinjury and was ready to go. The show will continue on October 30 without Dillian and we wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back in the ring very soon.”
“We wish Dillian all the very best in his recovery and look forward to him fighting on DAZN again very soon,” said Joseph Markowski, DAZN EVP. “The Super-Lightweight unification matchup between Chantelle Cameron and Mary McGee now tops the bill, as bothfighters battle it out in the road to Undisputed. We look forward to delivering that thrilling main event and the rest of the action-packed card on October 30, live from The O2 and to DAZN subscribers around the world.”