Singleton's British title dream put on ice

The pair were due to lock horns at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff on October 22nd but Billy Joe Saunders’s withdrawal from his WBO World middleweight title defence against Artur Akavov, in addition to complications with Liam Williams’s contest with Ahmet Patterson, has forced BoxNation promoter Frank Warren to pull the plug on the entire show.

“It’s devastating news,” said the welterweight challenger. “After 14 weeks of brutal training and living a totally different life to become British champion, the show has been cancelled. Therefore my fight is off. I’m upset, angry and disappointed as I was at peak fitness, my weight was perfect and I was more than ready to go.”

A proposal had been offered to Skeete, the owner of the Lonsdale Belt, to travel north to fight on a Steve Wood card. However, the holder rejected the offer by declaring that he wants the contest in his own back yard. As a result a new date of November 25th has been provisionally penciled in with the bout expected to take place in London.

“A new date of November 25th has been mentioned,” confirmed Singleton. “That means another six weeks of training from now to fulfill my dream. Skeete was offered to come and fight me on a local show here on the same date as the fight should have been but he refused, saying that he is not coming to my back yard as he is the champion. So I have to go to his back yard in London. And that’s what I’ll do. The wait goes on.”

Every cloud, though, has a silver lining and all Singleton’s graft won’t be put to waste. The WBC International Silver supremo has been offered a contest at the BEC Arena, Trafford Park, by L-SEL Boxing promoter James Lindemann. The show, broadcast live on The Sport Bible, on October 22nd will be topped by Sam Hyde and will also include Michael Gomez Jr and Singleton’s sparring partner Stephen Danyo.

“Everything happens for a reason,” said Singleton. “It’s probably going to be an eight round fight which keeps me ticking over and prevents me from going stale. There’s always the risk of injury but it has come at the right time. Everything I’ve done over the last 14 weeks can be put in to action. Training has gone well but nothing compares to a real fight and this allows me to let my fists go fully.”

Tickets for the show are being offered to Singleton’s ‘Barmy Army’ at a discounted price of £50 for outer ringside seating. Anybody interested in purchasing a ticket can contact Shayne on 07857 476485.