Dillian Whyte has withdrawn from his scheduled fight against Joe Joyce because of an injury.
Whyte, age 36, was supposed to face his London rival, Joe Joyce, in a much-anticipated all-British heavyweight match set for April 5th in Manchester.
It is reported that Whyte, 36, has cancelled the fight, citing a finger injury.
Joyce, 39, is still expected to headline the event, which also features former cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie against Richard Riakporhe.
Promoters are now urgently trying to find a new opponent to replace Whyte.
A source close to Olympic silver medalist Joyce mentioned, “This is very disappointing for Joe.”
“He has been training incredibly hard as usual, and Dillian was an excellent opponent.”
“If there’s one thing British boxing fans know about Joe, it’s that he is willing to fight anyone, and luckily, there are many talented heavyweights available.”
“Joe is not interested in competing below the top level – he will face any challenger.”
Whyte needed a high-profile opponent after his previous major fight was cancelled due to a failed drug test.
Whyte had been scheduled for a lucrative rematch with Anthony Joshua in August 2023, but the fight was called off just before fight week due to the failed test, leading to Robert Helenius stepping in as a replacement.
Whyte returned to boxing with a non-televised victory over Christian Hammer in Ireland last March.
He then participated in a tough fight against Ebenezer Tetteh at the end of last year in Gibraltar.
Regarding Joyce, he has suffered defeats in three of his last four fights since winning the interim WBO heavyweight title against Joseph Parker in 2022.
He experienced two losses to Zhilei Zhang before rebounding with a win against Kash Ali.
However, Joyce’s most recent fight resulted in a unanimous decision loss to Derek Chisora last summer.
