Josh Kelly's opponent pulled out on fight night

Josh Kelly's opponent for his comeback fight on Friday night, Xhuljo Vrenozi, pulled out of thier bout at the last minute.

Kelly was due to box live on Channel 5 as part of Wasserman Boxing’s first Fight Night. The contest would've been his first under his new promoter and in a new weight category.

The Sunderland native has not fought since his loss to David Avanesyan in February. He was scheduled to fight Vrenozi in the light middleweight division.

The 2016 Olympian chose to face the crowd at The Indigo at the O2 Arena to inform them about the unfortunate situation. He shared the video via an Instagram Story, where he said:

“He won’t come out of his hotel room to come to the venue. I got told at 8 o’clock tonight. I was warming up in the changing rooms and he’s pulled out. I feel for everyone. The support I’ve got tonight is unbelievable. Everyone’s tickets tonight will be valid for the Liverpool show on June 17 which I’ll be boxing on.”

Josh Kelly also posted on his Instagram to inform his fans.

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Why did Josh Kelly's opponent not turn up?

Josh Kelly was ready and hungry to fight. However, he came in at 1.2kg (2.6lbs) over the weight limit during the weigh-in. The Vrenozi team probably felt that their man would be at a disadvantage on the night of the fight. Even after the Englishman's promoters tried to encourage the opposition team to still fight, nothing was going to change their minds.

Josh Kelly’s new promoter Kalle Sauerland explained the events of the night to Channel 5’s Andy Clarke:

"We sat down after the weigh-in. There was no approaches for Josh to go and make the weight with 1.2kg not a big ask. We shook hands, it’s on camera. Then this afternoon they said we’re not boxing. So, we thought 'Okay, is it a money thing?' So, we tested the water there. In fact, we tested it very heavily. Clearly wasn’t a money thing. In my view, [Vrenozi's] just bottled it to put it bluntly."

Sauerland stated that he spent time on the phone appealing to Vrenozi and his team to come to a resolution:

“I said come down to the venue and we’ll put you both on the scales and we’ll see because I believe the guy’s last fight was at middleweight. [They were] not interested [and] at that point I knew we were fighting a losing battle. Thought about swapping fights, spoke with the [British Boxing] Board but we only had a foreign guy that could come in, but it was too late for the Board. We tried everything.”

Kalle Sauerland's brother and promoting partner, Nisse Sauerland, also spoke on the incident with Boxing Social.

Watch Nisse Sauerland's interview with Boxing Social below: