SAUNDERS AND EUBANK OFF SSE ARENA, BUGLIONI, SKEETE AND SMITH HEADLINE SHOW

British middleweight arch-rivals Billy Joe Saunders and Chris Eubank Jnr. will not feature at the SSE Arena, Wembley, on Saturday 9th May, and the show will proceed with London stars Frank Buglioni, Bradley Skeete and Mitchell Smith all in championship title action.

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.

Hatfield ace Saunders – who defeated Eubank Jnr. in a thrilling battle of undefeated fighters last November to retain his British, Commonwealth and European titles – 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 Jnr., who made a stunning return to the ring in February to capture the WBA Interim World title with a devastating display over the champion Dmitry Chudinov, was scheduled to make the first title defence at the SSE Arena.

Chris Eubank Promotions made it clear to Queensberry Promotions that a rematch with Saunders was high on Eubank Jnr’s priority list and as negotiations are still ongoing, it was agreed that Eubank Jnr. 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.

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.

Tickets, priced at £40, £50, £75, £100 and £200 are available from Eventim on 0844 249 1000 or www.eventim.co.uk and SSE Arena, Wembley, on 0844 815 0815 orwww.ssearena.co.uk (Disabled Line 0208 782 5629).

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