WBA Lightweight champion Richar Abril has a viral infection and he will not be able to defend his WBA Lightweight title against Derry Matthews March 6 in Liverpool.
“It’s very unfortunate that this has happened and Derry will have to wait just a little longer to get his world title opportunity,” said promoter Frank Warren said. “We hope that Richar recovers from his viral infection quickly and is able to get back into training to defend his title against Derry as soon as possible, which we are all really looking forward to.”
“We definitely want to have Abril defend his title against Derry Mathews and it is our hope that we can reschedule the fight for early April or as close to that time frame as possible,” said Abril’s attorney Gregory Bloom said.
Even with Abril-Mathews off, Warren said the show will go on with the other world title bout scheduled serving as the headliner as South Africa’s Zolani Tete (19-3, 16 KOs) is due to defend his junior bantamweight belt against England’s Paul Butler (17-0, 8 KOs), a former bantamweight titlist dropping down in weight to challenge for another belt.
“Despite Richar’s withdrawal, it’s a fantastic show with Paul aiming to be the first British fighter in nearly a hundred years to win a second world title in a lighter weight division,” Warren said.
