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Boxing

Joshua Buatsi vs. Dan Azeez: Ben Shalom announces new card after cancellation

Joshua Buatsi vs. Dan Azeez: Ben Shalom announces new card after cancellationDAZN
There will still be a title fight this weekend.

Ben Shalom has revealed the new plans for Saturday night’s card after Joshua Buatsi vs. Dan Azeez was called off.

Azeez has a trapped nerve in his back and doctors have deemed him unable to take part in what was a headline light heavyweight clash at the O2 Arena.

Instead of calling off the whole card, the promoter has talked up the other fights which he intends to carry on with, with the venue now York Hall in London.

"Isaac Chamberlain will be fighting Mikael Lawal for the British Cruiserweight title in a fight which has been talked about for months now," Shalom told Sky Sports.

"Sam Gilley will fight against Louie Greene for the super welterweight commonweight title, while the story goes on for Olympic hero Karriss Artingstall.

"A great night of boxing will go ahead on Saturday night. The team are working overtime right now to make sure everything goes ahead.

"Health and safety has to come first. It's a dangerous sport. The key for us now is to make sure the event goes ahead on Saturday and we get those brilliant fights on.

"Hopefully, Buatsi-Azeez which is possibly the fight of the year, can be rearranged for this side of Christmas."

"I'm devastated for this to happen on fight week," said Azeez.

"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."

Shalom continued: "It's tough to take for everyone involved.

"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. However, 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."