British middleweight rivals Billy Joe Saunders and Chris Eubank Jr. will not feature at the Saturday, May 9th card at Wembley, but the show will proceed with Londoners Frank Buglioni, Bradley Skeete and Mitchell Smith in action.
Saunders – who defeated Eubank Jr. in a battle of undefeated fighters last November – is the mandatory challenger to WBO World Champion Andy Lee and the Irishman must defend the title against Saunders next.
The WBO President Francisco Valcarcel has announced that due to a shoulder injury, Lee will be unable to defend his title against Saunders this summer. A request for Saunders to fight for the WBO Interim World title has been made whilst he waits for Lee to recover from his injury and this has meant that Saunders has had to withdraw from the SSE Arena card.
Brighton star Eubank Jr., who made a return to the ring in February to capture the WBA Interim title with a win over Dmitry Chudinov, and was scheduled to make the first title defense at the SSE Arena.
Chris Eubank Promotions made it clear to Queensberry Promotions that a rematch with Saunders was high on Eubank Jr’s priority list and as negotiations are still ongoing, it was agreed that Eubank Jr. will not fight on the SSE Arena show with the aim of making the big blockbuster rematch for the summer.
The WBO have also stated that terms for a Saunders-Eubank rematch are to be agreed in the next 48 hours or Saunders will challenge for the title against an approved WBO ranked challenger.
Buglioni defends his WBO European Super-Middleweight crown against former amateur foe Lee Markham as they finally clash in the pros in a potential thriller; Skeete faces Italian warrior Brunet Zamora in a defence of his WBO European Welterweight title; whilst the exciting and explosive punching Smith challenges for the Vacant WBO Intercontinental Featherweight title against Christian Palma.
With Buglioni, Skeete and Smith now headlining the show, an action packed undercard featuring some of the best emerging British talent includes: Ahmet Patterson, George Jupp, Joe Pigford, Ediz Hussein, Boy Jones Jnr., Nick Webb and the professional debut of Anthony Yarde.
Should members of the public require a ticket refund for the SSE Arena show please refer to the original point of purchase.
