Artur Beterbiev has been forced to postpone his undisputed light heavyweight title fight against Dmitry Bivol due to injury.
The two champions, both considered among the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, were due to face off in a highly-anticipated bout on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
1
However, Beterbiev has suffered a ruptured meniscus and now requires knee surgery, pushing the fight back to later this year.
Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, said: "After receiving today’s news about Beterbiev’s injury, we will be postponing the Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight scheduled for June 1st until later this year. Wishing my brother Artur a speedy recovery. However, the 5v5 event is still on for June 1st."
According to ESPN, Beterbiev is expected to be out of action until September and Bivol could still fight on the June 1 card against a replacement opponent.
The fight was due to headline a card which will see five boxers promoted by Matchroom take on five fighters promoted by Queensbury.
READ MORE ON BOXING
It includes exciting heavyweight contests between Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, along with Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois.
Joshua Buatsi makes U-turn on potential Anthony Yarde fight after securing world title shot
But Beterbiev vs Bivol was undoubtedly set to be the highlight for boxing fans who have waited years to see the two undefeated Russians go head-to-head.
It had been labelled the 'best fight in boxing' by many observers.
Beterbiev is the only reigning champion in boxing with a 100 per cent KO rate, while Bivol was named Fighter of the Year after beating legendary fighter Canelo Alvarez in 2022.
The two champions in the division hold all the belts between them with Beterbiev boasting the IBF, WBC and WBO titles and Bivol the WBA crown.
Boxing WhatsApp channel
Get the latest fight news, reaction and the best opinion from talkSPORT pundits in our Boxing WhatsApp channel.
Follow our Boxing channel HERE.