Liam Smith's rematch with Chris Eubank Jr has been postponed, meaning Savannah Marshall's undisputed world title challenge will be the main event at Manchester's AO Arena on 1 July.

 

Smith, 34, has pulled out to "recover from a minor, but nagging injury".

 

He stopped Eubank in January and the rematch had already been pushed back from 17 June due to the injury.

Mexico's Mauricio Lara is set to be stripped of his WBA featherweight belt after failing to make the weight for his title fight against Leigh Wood.

 

Wood made the nine stone limit but his team has cast doubt about the fight taking place on Saturday in Manchester.

 

Promoter Eddie Hearn has suggested the fight will go ahead but Wood's trainer, Ben Davison, said: "It's a discussion I've got to have with Leigh.

 

"I can't sit here and say we 100% rule out the fight not taking place.

Britain's world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has not sent a contract to Anthony Joshua lining up a September fight, says promoter Eddie Hearn.

 

Fury, 34, said on Friday he wanted to meet Joshua at Wembley later in the year and had already sent a contract.

 

"[Fury's team has] reached out but no contract has been sent," said Hearn.

 

"We're negotiating a fight with [ex-heavyweight champion] Deontay Wilder [in December] and a fight in August. We are not willing to alter those plans."

 

Speaking on IFL TV, Joshua's promoter Hearn added: "If our plans don't come to fruition we would of course be open to discussing a fight with Tyson Fury. The Tyson Fury fight is a fight Anthony Joshua wants.

Legendary promoter Bob Arum says he is sceptical that Michael Conlan's title bout with Luis Alberto Lopez is "make or break" for the Belfast fighter.

 

Conlan, 31 is chasing his first world title and on Saturday takes on Mexican IBF featherweight champion Lopez in front of a capacity Belfast crowd.

 

"It is going to be very important for him to get a title sooner rather than later," Arum told BBC Sport.

 

"For a boxer, life is limited, and you can't waste time."

Leigh Wood gained revenge on Mauricio Lara by unanimous points decision as he regained the WBA featherweight title with an impressive display.

 

Lara, 25, stopped the 34-year-old Englishman in February but vacated the belt on Friday after failing to make weight for this rematch in Manchester.

 

The Mexican's sluggish movement was in contrast to the clever, dominant performance of Wood.

 

Wood knocked down Lara in round two and never looked in trouble thereafter.

 

The judges scored it 118-109, 116-111 and 118-109 in his favour.

Chris Billam-Smith became the new WBO cruiserweight champion as he dethroned former gym-mate Lawrence Okolie on a memorable night in Bournemouth.

 

Fighting in his home town in front of 15,000 jubilant fans, underdog Billam-Smith floored Okolie three times en route to a majority points victory.

 

A frustrated Okolie was twice docked points for holding and grappling as he lost his unbeaten record.

 

The judges' scorecards read 112-112, 116-107 and 115-108.

Michael Conlan says he "paid the price" for a disappointing performance after his fifth-round defeat by Luis Alberto Lopez in Belfast on Saturday night.

 

Mexican Lopez retained his IBF featherweight title as Conlan missed out on a first world title.

 

"Wasn't at the races, couldn't seem to get going and paid the price for it," Conlan said on social media.

 

"I'm gonna take some time away from social media now to enjoy my family and decide what the next steps for me are."

 

It's a second world title defeat for Conlan after he was dramatically knocked out of the ring by Leigh Wood last year.

 

Lopez took control of the fight in the third round and won it two rounds later when an uppercut sent the Belfast fight to the canvas and the towel was thrown in by his team.

A boxer who collapsed in the ring at Belfast's SSE Arena on Saturday night is being treated in hospital, with his team saying his vital signs are stable.

South African pugilist Ludumo Lamati fought against Liverpool's Nick Ball on the undercard of Michael Conlan bout with Luis Alberto Lopez.

 

Lamati lost in the 12th round of the bout via a technical knockout. Following the fight he collapsed in the ring and had to be stretchered away.

 

Ball refused to celebrate his victory in his post-fight interview as the state of his opponent's health was unknown.

Leigh Wood has vowed to make his "dream" fight at Nottingham Forest's City Ground a reality after becoming a two-time featherweight world champion.

 

The 34-year-old reclaimed the WBA belt by beating Mauricio Lara on Saturday - just 36 hours after the Mexican vacated the title for failing to make weight.

 

Lifelong Forest fan Wood now wants his title defence to be at the Premier League club's 30,000-seat home ground.

Rosie Eccles says the success of fellow Welsh boxer Lauren Price can help inspire her own Olympic ambitions in Paris next summer.

 

The 26-year-old, who won light-middleweight gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, is one of 13 British boxers chosen to compete at the European Games in Poland where she will have an opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

 

Eccles hopes to emulate the success of former sparring partner Price, who became the first Welsh fighter to win Olympic boxing gold in Tokyo in 2021 and has since turned professional, recently beating Kirstie Bavington in the inaugural British Female Welterweight Championship contest in Birmingham.

Britain's Savannah Marshall became the undisputed super-middleweight champion with a majority decision points win over American Franchon Crews-Dezurn at Manchester's AO Arena.

 

The 32-year-old home fighter started slowly but landed the cleaner, heavier shots in a gruelling yet fast-paced contest.

 

The judges scored the fight 95-95, 99-92 and 97-93.

 

After the fight, Marshall called for a rematch with Claressa Shields.

 

With American Shields in attendance and a vocal presence at ringside, Marshall said: "Thanks for coming over, let's get it on at super-middleweight."

 

Marshall, who won her 13th professional bout, suffered a devastating first career loss to bitter rival Shields in October.

Briton Natasha Jonas stopped Kandi Wyatt in Manchester to win the vacant IBF welterweight title and become a two-weight world champion.

 

Jonas, 39, landed with ease throughout, with Canada's Wyatt throwing little back, before the referee halted the contest in the eighth.

 

She is also the reigning WBC, WBO and IBF light-middleweight champion.

Looks like there are a couple of matches in the pipeline for August - Anthony Joshua / Dillian Whyte and Daniel Dubois / Oleksandr Usyk both have dates set.

Anthony Joshua does not consider Dillian Whyte a "rival" as the heavyweights prepare for their rematch on 12 August in London.

 

The Britons last fought each other in December 2015, in a bitterly contested bout Joshua won via knockout.

 

Joshua, 33, looked to calm what has often been a bitter rivalry with Whyte at a news conference on Monday.

 

"I don't really look at Dillian as a rival," he said. "Just another body. A lot of people hate on me.

British rivals Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr will face each other in a middleweight rematch on Saturday 2 September at Manchester's AO Arena.

 

Smith, 34, stopped Eubank Jr, 33, in four rounds in January, bringing an explosive end to a bitter build-up.

 

The rematch, originally scheduled for 1 July, was postponed after Smith suffered an injury in training.

 

"I'm fully healed up now, injury-free, and I'm looking forward to finishing Chris Eubank Jr's career," Smith said.

 

The Liverpool fighter, a former WBO light-middleweight champion, has won 33 fights, with three defeats and one draw.

 

Eubank Jr, who activated a rematch clause, has won 32 fights with three losses.

Anthony Joshua "didn't want to let anyone down" when he agreed to fight late replacement Robert Helenius at London's O2 Arena on Saturday.

 

Briton Joshua, 33, will face Finland's Helenius after Dillian Whyte failed a drugs test on Saturday.

A fired-up Anthony Joshua exchanged words with opponent Robert Helenius during a long, intense stare-down as the heavyweights weighed in for Saturday's bout at London's O2 Arena.

 

Briton Joshua, 33, weighed 17st 12lbs, a pound heavier than Helenius.

 

The 39-year-old Finn took the fight at a week's notice after Dillian Whyte failed a voluntary drugs test.

 

"You got a problem with me?" Joshua asked Helenius.

 

In a swift retort, Helenius told Joshua: "I don't got a problem with you."

 

Having just weighed in at Westfield London shopping centre on Friday, Joshua told his opponent: "We're going to fight now or we're going to fight tomorrow. Either way we're going to fight."

Heavyweight Anthony Joshua spectacularly knocked out Robert Helenius with one punch in round seven, after boxing tentatively in the first half of the fight at London's O2 Arena.

 

The 33-year-old Briton - who was jeered by fans during the fight - landed nothing of note until an overhand right ended Helenius' night.

 

The win - Joshua's first stoppage win in two and half years - sets up a blockbuster fight with American Deontay Wilder in January.

Great Britain's Sunny Edwards will fight American Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez in a world flyweight unification championship bout on 16 December in Arizona.

 

IBF champion Edwards has been chasing a unification bout since first winning his world title in 2021.

 

Edwards, 27, was ringside for Anthony Joshua's fight in London to announce the bout.

 

"Rodriguez should be here now. I know he's running scared," Edwards said.

 

"His world title reign is over."

 

Edwards is unbeaten in 20 fights and signed with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom earlier this year as Rodriguez was signed to the promotion.

Dennis McCann's super-bantamweight contest against Ionut Baluta ended in a majority draw after an accidental clash of heads in round nine.

 

In a terrific all-action contest at London's York Hall, McCann, 22, was cut on the forehead for a second time in the fight, with the referee halting the bout and going to the scorecards.

 

One judge scored it 86-85 to McCann with the other two judging it 86-86.